The Last of His Kind (New)
by Vergil Leonidas
Summary: Following the demise of his home Vergil Leonidas, half-devil half-human, reluctantly found his place at Hogwarts. Being dubbed 'You-Know-Who Incarnate' really didn't help, even if he had no idea who that was. But, despite everything, he would be lying if he said it wasn't worth it in the end.
1. Spinner's End Meeting

_**The Last of His Kind**_

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 _ **Book 1 – Philosopher's Stone**_

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 _ **Chapter 1 – Spinner's End Meeting**_

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The boy's stomach growled as he stood in front of a stone pillar, a monument for the dozens of deceased victims. He shivered in his tattered clothes as cold, merciless, rain poured down from the sky. He looked down on his palms, they were clean, the rain did a wonderful job, no questions about it. If only he could ignore the lingering smell of blood. He could still feel the warmth of the red liquid, clenching his fists and shutting his eyes he turned his head to the side. Breathing in through gritted teeth he tried to keep calm.

A sudden loud crack in the distance made him jump; his wide red eyes darting around for a sign of an enemy. It was only when he looked up and saw lightning dancing through the clouds that he understood it was just a lightning strike.

"Why?! Why does it suddenly keep raining?!" the boy screamed at the skies, his voice breaking half-way through the bellowing question. A few electric blue sparks surrounded him, danced around his body and vanished in an instance.

Lightning struck him from the sky, quickly followed by two more almost as if the storm responded to him.

The boy growled, fighting against the stinging sensation just underneath his skin. "It won't work! Lightning won't hurt me again!" as if to prove a point he pointed at the right side of his face where a lightning shaped scar went over his eye. "I already made it my own!" he knew it was more of a wishful thinking, he knew he still felt it and he always would, but as much as he could, given his age he did make lightning his own weapon. A very unrefined and indiscriminate weapon, but weapon nonetheless.

The brief bursts of electricity around him attracted the wrath of the storm. He withstood the next two lightning strikes, his knees threatened to buckle and the pain was kicking in. The pain was way deeper than the burning sensation that engulfed him; it shook the very core of his soul. The sixth lightning strike made him drop to his knees and he cried out for the first time. His heartbeat quickened, his mind was blank, only aware of the pain and then it stopped.

Lightning clashed with sky blue lightning from the ground. For a moment it looked like they would simply nullify one another but the one coming from below grew and cut right into the cloud.

The boy watched as the electricity within the cloud exploded, vanquishing other clouds from the bright red sky in the process. "Grom…" he whispered, the man's name came out almost as if it was associated with the last bits of hope the boy had left in him.

Bright, soft, yellow eyes with black slit-like pupils were quickly focused on the boy. "It's not over, Vergil. Keep your head up," the devil's voice was gentle, yet firm in encouraging Vergil.

Vergil looked down; a single drop of water separated from the mess of white hair and fell onto the ground. "We've been fighting for over three years. There's no point anymore," everywhere he went he saw destruction. Towns and villages turned into a bit more than rubble, forests cut down, water polluted by all the blood and everything disposed into the rivers.

Grom remained silent for a moment, his shoulders slumped. He dropped down to his knees right in front of Vergil, he could feel the cold mud even through his uniform but he hardly cared about that. Slowly he reached out and placed his hand on Vergil's should. "Look at me."

Vergil did as he was told, blood red met yellow but that was all, the boy couldn't find strength to speak.

"Keeping the memories alive. That's the point," Grom pressed his fist against Vergil's chest, right where his heart was. "Galina, all our comrades, if we give up we'll throw their lives away."

They both looked at the monument. -Galina Leonidas; 1972-1990-, just one of the names on the grave. Name and a vague estimate of how old she was, that's all Vergil had left of his sister, well half-sister.

Vergil sighed, somewhere in the distance, by the fence of the graveyard he could hear laughter. Children and even some of the older citizens embraced the rain. For children it was naïve innocence, a game. For adults it was happiness in the last moments. He heard the talks about winning the war, rebuilding the world. He did hope, but lately he just went along with what was going on. Followed the wind that carried the stench of death…

 _ **~X~ Month and a half later ~X~**_

Vergil shivered and curled up on the grass, the sound of a running river and a couple of birds taking flight was all he could hear in his vicinity. He kept clutching at the wound on the right side of his abdomen, the bleeding had stopped but it still hurt.

Something pecked his cheek, something with a beak and he was too weak to do anything but swat his arm in general direction of the creature that chose to disturb him. A flap of wings made it obvious that it was some kind of a bird.

Vergil mustered up enough strength to open his eyes and turn onto his back. He saw a bird, judging by how it looked it seemed like something humans would call an owl, though he imagined they would be bigger. It was carrying a letter and seemed very adamant on bugging him as it flew down and landed on his chest. Vergil groaned and glanced at the letter.

' _Mr. V. Leonidas, Under the bridge, Spinner's End, Cokeworth? I've gone mad, there's no other explanation,'_ Vergil looked up and realized that he indeed was under the bridge. Last night when Grom pushed him through the portal he didn't see much, he just crawled to where he currently was and lost consciousness. "Just go away," he pleaded weakly.

Much to his dismay the bird began pecking him again.

For now he chose to ignore the bird. Grom saved his life, used the last of his strength to create a rift between the worlds to get him out of the harm's way before their world was completely ruined. Grom was dead, that was the only conclusion Vergil could reach no matter how hard he tried to find a way for Grom to escape. And even if he somehow escaped his wounds were far too serious, Grom would die, no matter what.

The owl kept pestering him.

Vergil's eyebrow twitched at that, his eyes narrowed and a burst of lightning erupted around him forcing the bird to fly away quickly.

There it was, the wrath of lightning.

But once again his body couldn't follow, he lost consciousness.

 _ **~X~**_

Severus Snape was never an embodiment of health, sallow skin, yellow, uneven teeth and perhaps he was too thin for his own good. He had a large, hooked nose, shoulder-length greasy black hair and dark, penetrating eyes.

He had returned to his hometown a few days ago, with exams and his duties to the school done for this school year he now had a bit less than two months off. Frankly he would have preferred staying at Hogwarts if it wasn't for memories of his time with Lily pulling him back every year. He lived in the house at the very end of the Spinner's End Street; in fact he was just heading there across the bridge.

Cokeworth was never a particularly magical place; so when creatures, such as ghouls, began lurking in this part of the city three days ago Snape noticed right away. It was an anomaly, to the point where it looked almost like the creatures were lured by something, or someone.

Still, Snape was more than content with letting the Ministry deal with the matter. At least he believed he'd just leave the matters to them; and he would have, if he didn't hear something crashing underneath the bridge. He looked down instinctively and saw a child jumping to the side with a ghoul following it.

Even as unusual as ghoul being violent was, it was threatening to a child so he clearly had no choice.

Snape reached out for his wand, but what he saw next froze him on spot. A black orb appeared above the child's palm. The child fired the orb into the ghoul's abdomen. It separated from the ground and was pushed roughly five meters away. The sound of sizzling skin and a bit of smoke came from the contact area making the ghoul screech before losing consciousness.

Snape watched as the child sat down by the polluted river and hung his head; at the very least Snape needed to Obliviate the child's memories. He walked down to where the child was, certain that he was yet to be seen and then his eyes caught glimpse of a familiar envelope in the grass. Hogwarts acceptance letter addressed to V. Leonidas. He picked it up and realized it wasn't even opened yet.

"What's with all these animals?"

The voice was way too calm, puzzled more than anything and Snape looked at the child for the first time. Average child, perhaps with a bit more muscle than someone his age should have. The first striking feature, however, was the short pure white hair. The boy's clothes were torn and he didn't exactly have much of a shirt left which left cuts and a few other smaller wounds out in the open.

More importantly the child just used something very similar to the Dark Arts and no matter how hard he tried to Snape couldn't remember ever seeing something like that. There was no incantation, or wand, or any movement whatsoever from what he could see. It just appeared.

He walked closer to the boy, making his presence known. The boy, startled by someone else being there, quickly looked up and managed to hastily get back to his feet. Snape's heart skipped the beat when he saw the blood red eyes with slit pupils and then there was a scar, lightning-shaped one; however unlike the famous lightning bolt on another boy this one was horrendous. It wasn't a lightning bolt, it was a lightning, like the one that flashed through the sky when there was a storm, and it was spread across the right side of the boy's face.

The boy suddenly relaxed, a lot.

"Oh, so you're a human," the boy grinned slightly clearly growing more comfortable due to the realization. "Sorry if that was your pet," he sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

Snape could see the exhaustion in the boy's eyes and just kept looking at him, at those chillingly familiar red eyes. Even if Snape accepted the fact that a child could produce a black orb and knock out a ghoul, without a wand mind you, most children would be scared and not as straight-forward as this one. In conclusion this child was most likely an idiot… On the other hand most children wouldn't look as tired as he was.

"So… do you plan on saying anything?" and to make matters even worse the child was impatient. So, an impatient dimwit that was possibly the one acceptance letter was addressed to and had chilling similarities to Lord Voldemort. This was not something Snape wanted to get involved with, he should just Obliviate the boy and leave him, perhaps put him into Dumbledore's hands.

The boy's stomach growled loudly and Snape's eyebrow twitched just a little bit.

Now he really couldn't leave the brat, he was probably, despite obvious counter arguments, on the verge of death. Plus it would be too inconvenient to let him wander around. "Come with me," he urged the boy and pulled out his wand. When the red eyes brightened in curiosity he felt his heart skip a beat again. The last thing anyone needed was for those similarities to turn out to be more than just similarities. " **Mobilicorpus** ," with a simply word the ghoul's body was raised into the air.

The boy watched the levitating body for a few moments and then grinned confidently. "Sure, but you have to tell me how you did that."

At that time Severus Snape had no idea just who he was taking along to his house; but he knew that he should notify Dumbledore.

"And what's your name anyway?" the boy had the guts to ask him more than eagerly.

"Severus Snape," Snape bit out, almost grumbled under his breath.

 _ **~X~**_

Vergil followed Snape to an old house at the end of the street. He remained silent, far from certain on what he should say. As far as he was aware humans knew about devils, his mother knew at the very least. Though he couldn't be certain about how she reacted when she met his father.

He was led directly into a tiny sitting room; the walls were completely covered in books, most of them bound in old leather. The rest of the furniture was rather scarce, a rickety table, an old sofa and an armchair. Overall the place had an air of neglect to it. Vergil looked at the man and saw him motioning toward the sofa. He took the hint and sat down as Snape disappeared into another room, a kitchen perhaps. Vergil observed the ghoul, it was still unconscious and Snape left it lying on the floor.

The doors opened and Vergil once again looked at Snape, he was left puzzled by the strange man.

"Drink this," Snape offered him a cup without a hint of foul play being involved, in fact his face was pretty much expressionless. Though there may have been a small hint of annoyance in the black eyes.

Vergil raised an eyebrow as he held the cup. "You expect me to trust you?" he questioned, showing for the first time a small amount of mistrust. He probably should have doubted the man more but he was thirsty, hungry and exhausted, there was very little space for proper reasoning.

"No," Snape's honest response made Vergil grin and without a second of hesitation he downed the drink, consequences be damned.

"Why did you drink it?" Snape asked and sat down on the armchair.

"I don't care if it kills me," for a moment Vergil's eyes widened. He didn't mean to say that, yet he did, he said the truth when he would have just said he'd taken the chance with it. He didn't want to be completely honest with the man just yet but it seemed like the truth forced its way out. It frightened Vergil and his mind quickly made the connection between his state and the drink. "What did you give me?" he asked, smallest hints of defiance echoed in his voice.

Snape, despite looking somewhat relaxed, had the demeanor of power, a kind of aura that demanded respect. "Veritaserum, a potion that makes you tell the truth," Snape saw no reason to lie to the child.

Vergil shook his head slightly, but the subtle grin on his face made it seem like he was amused by his own naivety.

"What is your name?" Snape wasn't wasting time and he seemed to be studying Vergil, particularly his eyes.

"Vergil Leonidas," Vergil responded, he figured Snape would have figured out exactly what he was if it wasn't for the red eyes, Cambions, when they were born to a human and a devil had red eyes. It made them stand out from devils that always had yellow eyes. That was probably the reason why Snape wasn't completely certain of what he was.

Snape nodded and made a short pause. "How old are you?"

"Eleven."

"Do you know what this is?" Snape pulled out a piece of wood from before, it didn't look that important to Vergil but he supposed there was something about it.

Still, Vergil looked puzzled by the question. "A stick," he clearly didn't know what it was and it seemed to put the man at ease.

"What did you use to knock out the ghoul?" Snape continued the mini interrogation.

"That thing over there?" Vergil pointed at the ghoul and then looked back at Snape who nodded. " **Darkness Orb**."

Snape shifted in his armchair; processing the information he received from the boy, so far everything seemed fine. A few more questions would be enough to silence his worries until Dumbledore arrived. "Do names such as Dark Lord, Lord Voldemort, Albus Dumbledore or Potter mean anything to you?" the answer was already clear from the way Vergil's face remained blank.

"Nope, never heard of them," Vergil's voice was still as calm as it was back by the river, there was no recognition. He never heard of those names, they meant nothing to him.

"Do you know what a muggle is?"

Once again Vergil raised an eyebrow slowly getting confused by these questions. "No."

"Where did you come from?"

Vergil swallowed a lump in his throat. "Thanatos."

For all the years he lived Snape never heard of such a place. There was something nostalgic in Vergil's eyes as he thought back to that place; yet underneath that nostalgia Snape could easily see the traces of anger. "Why did you come along?" it was a question he wanted to ask despite part of him knowing the answer.

"Even if it was a trap I don't care. I'd put up a fight though," Vergil said, the thoughts of Thanatos vanished from his mind and took the anger from his eyes along.

Snape remained silent for a moment. "That's all. You are to stay here," he ordered.

"Why do you think I'd listen to you?" Vergil questioned.

"You don't care, do you?" with that Snape stood up and left Vergil on his own.

Vergil chuckled to himself; he sure knew how to stumble across people. "Heh, fair enough."

 _ **~X~**_

Snape allowed Vergil to use the bathroom. There wasn't really a need to ask for something as trivial as that, but the boy did so regardless. Vergil cupped some water and splashed his face with it. He let the drops drip down from his face and the bangs of his white hair. The dripping sound calmed him down, even rhythm, like a heartbeat… He took a deep breath and took the towel to wipe his face off.

As long as he was in the house Snape was fine with wherever he remained; he decided to occupy the room Snape offered him, after all he was yet to feel comfortable around the man.

He lied down on the bed and look at the ceiling. Anger bubbled back up and coursed through his blood as he swiftly turned around. Vergil buried his face into the pillow. He tightly closed his eyes, fighting back his emotions. The shaky sigh escaped his lips as he let the sleep consume him.

 _ **~X~**_

Vergil sat up, he was breathing heavily, a nightmare, again, every single night, ever since he lost his home his mind was plagued by nightmares.

"And where is this boy you told me of, Severus?" someone was in the house. Someone other than Snape.

"In the bedroom, sleeping," Snape replied, his voice even from what Vergil could hear.

"That You-Know-Who incarnate can't be allowed to walk around freely," well that statement certainly made him curious. He's been called a lot of things but not an incarnate; especially of something that was probably specific to the people on the other side of the doors.

"What are you basing that… statement on?" he recognized Snape's voice yet again. It seemed like the man was often making small pauses when he spoke.

"As you have just told us professor Snape, he has red eyes, pale skin, white hair and he's clearly using dark arts," it sounded like a lot of reasons to Vergil, but if there was one thing he was certain of it was the fact that he was clearly not an incarnate. In fact all of those traits were combinations of his heritage. White hair and pale skin like every Leonidas before him and he assumed they were referring to Darkness Orb as those dark arts. Well it did use his soul so maybe they'd classify that as dark and it was darkness ability so maybe they weren't so off the point.

"Now, I understand your worry Cornelius. Nonetheless we should consider taking him in and teaching him at Hogwarts; the letter clearly proves that he's capable of magic," an elderly soothing voice stated. Magic? Was that what Snape used? And letter? That thing that pestering owl forced onto him, probably.

"Even if he is not You-Know-Who's incarnate he is clearly born with a power that is too dangerous!" this Cornelius guy, at least Vergil guessed so, exclaimed.

"It is not what you are born as that matters, but who you grow up to be," came the counter argument in his favor.

"I demand that he is put under strict surveillance!"

Vergil contemplated coming out but his grand entry and possibly freaking the hell out of the man that already sounded like a panicking idiot was ruined by most likely the said man marching out of the house. "And that ruins it," he muttered as he entered the room.

Immediately Vergil felt the eyes carefully inspecting him. He turned to the tall and thin old wizard with silver long hair and beard that had taken his side and calmly stood as man's piercing blue eyes clashed with his blood red ones.

"Ah, I believe it does ruin it," the elderly man agreed with him making Vergil grin at the light-hearted tone.

"Was this why you told me to stay?" Vergil turned to Snape.

"Yes," straightforward and honest, Vergil found that he liked that.

"Mr. Leonidas would you mind showing us what you referred to as darkness orb?" the elderly man requested and Vergil couldn't help but notice the complete opposite in attitude when compared to Snape. This man seemed care-free, friendly, open, but the respect his presence demanded nonetheless was even greater than Snape's.

"How about you tell me your name first? It is a bit selfish for you to ask without at the very least introducing yourself," Vergil pointed out thus making the man chuckle again.

Snape had to admit he found the kid's temperament to be somewhat amusing when it was directed at others.

"Of course. My name is Albus Dumbledore," Dumbledore introduced himself.

"Vergil Leonidas, though you already know that," Vergil grinned and raised his palm. In merely a second a black orb formed in front of it. "It's a bit destructive so I'm not going to fire it."

"Go ahead," Snape urged him.

Vergil tilted his head slightly. "Are you sure?"

Snape pointed at the armchair by the side. "Do it."

"Even if I can't pay for the repairs?" Vergil smirked enjoying a small moment, testing the waters to see how far he could push Snape.

"Vergil…" clearly the boundaries weren't that high when it came to Snape's patience and as the time went on Vergil would find Snape calling him by his first name to be either really good or, more often, really bad.

Vergil's smirk morphed into a grin and even Dumbledore seemed amused. Finally the Halfling relented and shot the ball of darkness. It collided with the chair thus shattering it.

"Quite intriguing I must say," Dumbledore commented, but Vergil already knew that neither the older man nor Snape for that matter were intrigued by the ability. They were intrigued by the red eyes. Eyes that were supposed to be yellow judging by the ability Vergil just showcased.

" **Reparo** ," Snape said and the chair was back to the state it was in just before the impact.

"I sure know how to stumble on people," this time Vergil said it out loud, it was always a bad habit of his, stumbling into people that would in one way or another really affect his life. It seemed to be something that he inherited from his mother… He decided to get to the point that interested him at the moment and as this part of conversation seemed to end he just decided to strike a new one. "So why was that other one here anyways?" Vergil asked referring to Fudge and making the older wizard chuckle.

"Do not worry yourself with it Mr. Leonidas," Dumbledore assured him. There was no need for Vergil to know that it was merely a coincidence. People were called to take the ghoul; Cornelius Fudge got the word of it and wanted to be the good Minister… "Severus, I believe I can leave the young Mr. Leonidas in your care, yes?"

Well it's not like the child had anywhere else to go. "Yes, Headmaster."

"Mr. Leonidas, it was a pleasure to meet you," Dumbledore disappeared into thin air leaving Vergil dumbfounded.

"That's magic, right?" Vergil assumed.

"Yes," And Snape confirmed his assumptions.

"Cool."

"You never said what exactly are you?" Snape suddenly asked.

The boy looked at him, clearly not buying the supposed lack of mostly correct guess Snape and Dumbledore had. There was nothing childish or innocent in the way Vergil's eyes became cold as ice, or the way his body tensed. "A half-devil half-human, in other words a cambion."

 _ **~X~**_

Tomorrow morning Snape placed an envelope in front of Vergil. The boy now had a bandage covering the right side of his face. He was already 'You-Know-Who incarnate' in Fudge's eyes, a lightning scar was the last thing he needed publicly shown.

"This? I hope that owl pestered me for a good reason," Vergil commented with obvious resentment toward the bird as he took the envelope and opened it. A brief reading later Vergil folded the letter and closed his eye. "Even though I'm supposedly 'Whoever-that-is incarnate'?"

Severus made a small pause and then. "…Yes," while they could have ignored the acceptance letter it probably was for the best to keep the boy close.

The light from the candles above them flickered slightly and they heard a distinct sound of thunder rumbling in the distance. Snape subtly raised an eyebrow for a moment as the slight trembling caught his attention. Vergil was clenching his fists and keeping his eye shut. "Focus…" it was hardly even a whisper, one Snape likely wouldn't notice if he wasn't paying so much attention to Vergil.

And then it vanished just as quickly as it appeared.

The eye opened and Vergil seemed to be rereading the letter. "My owl?"

"Yes, an owl," Snape deadpanned.

Vergil blinked a few times and then shrugged. "Can I just refuse?" Vergil had to ask. He knew he was hoping for one hell of a miracle; he knew it was a wasted breath to even ask… But he just had to.

"No," of course not…

Giving up on any resistance Vergil looked at the list of all the things he needed. As he read through the list he knew it. Oh he was going to have a field day with this, really, he was. "And how will I get money for this?" it was a very logical question because Vergil was absolutely broke, he had nothing. Not a single whatever currency was in this world.

"Hogwarts has a fund for students like you. You'd normally have enough for mostly second-hand purchase," By now Vergil was used to slow, even way Snape spoke. "But I will give you enough to avoid that."

Vergil tilted his head a bit. "Why? There's nothing wrong with second-hand things."

"At the moment you are my responsibility," well that explained a few things. "Rest now, we leave tomorrow morning."

 _ **~X~**_

He was back home, back in Thanatos. Back with Grom… Injured, exhausted but back nonetheless. Grom was grinning victoriously at him and then the grin vanished.

For the first time in years Vergil felt fear overwhelm him. It took over his entire being the moment he saw horror etched upon Grom's face. Vergil reluctantly turned around and his heart damn near stopped. The red sky was cracking around the same spot Grom clashed with Apolion one last time. Blood red cracks quickly expanded as the energy seeped out.

The Mid-dimension was merging with Thanatos.

Vergil sat up abruptly; cold sweat ran down his chin and the clothes he was wearing were damp. He didn't know how much time passed; all he heard was an owl hooting near the house. He stood up, feeling shaky and unsure of his own steps. The creaking of the floor betrayed his movement; but he still walked out of the room intending to go outside to get a bit of a fresh air. He needed to get the image out of his head.

"You're up," Snape's statement made him look to his side; he didn't even notice the potions master sitting on the armchair with newspapers in his hands. For a moment it looked like people on the picture moved. Vergil blinked a few times, he was seeing things, either that or this world really was filled with all kinds of abnormalities.

"A nightmare," Vergil shakily offered the reason and began walking to the doors.

"You had them last night as well," again, it was a statement as Snape placed the newspapers on the table and looked at him.

Vergil shrugged looking like he had resigned to having nightmares from here on out. "There's not much I can do about them," he replied doing his best to regain his composure. His eyes were fixated on the potions master. The man somehow had a small bottle in his possession.

"Drink this," Snape placed a small bottle on the table. "Dreamless sleep potion," he named the content of the bottle when Vergil looked at it suspiciously.

Finally, Vergil relented and picked up the bottle, he could give it a try it's not like he had anything to lose. And he doubted Snape would try to poison him now, even if he did Vergil knew he didn't have enough will to fight back. That was the primary reason why he was so accepting of the entire Hogwarts idea.

There weren't any dreams, let alone nightmares, after he drank the potion. So far it seemed like he could trust Snape.

 _ **~X~**_

Next morning Vergil found himself following Snape like a lost puppy as they boarded the train to London. The landscape they were passing by changed as the time went on. Vergil took in the scenery, everything from the random houses near the railway to the green fields, mountains in the distance and a river that ran by their side for a few miles. It was a sunny day, a bit hot but easily bearable, especially if someone spent eleven years in Thanatos. As he turned to look at the sky a bird flew over the train, displaying its freedom for anyone who'd catch the glimpse of it.

"You're potions master, right?" Vergil asked once he got tired of looking outside the window and focused on the only person sitting with him in the compartment, Severus Snape.

"Yes," that was the first thing Snape told him ever since they left his house.

"Can you teach me how to make that potion you gave me last night?" Vergil asked, the last thing he wanted was to rely on someone he barely knew. He got lucky once with Grom, he doubted the same luck would be bestowed upon him twice.

Snape observed him for a few silent moments. "At this moment," he made a small pause. "Leonidas, you are to learn basics."

"Leonidas? Can't you call me Vergil?" Vergil looked and sounded puzzled by the distance Snape was building, rather effortlessly at that.

"No," they were meant to become student and teacher in about a month, there was no place for something like Snape calling Vergil by his first name or vice versa. Such familiarity was simply out of bounds.

"By the way will I even be able to use magic?" Vergil asked, frankly he was curious about it; after all he never heard of a devil using magic.

"Devils can't perform magic," Snape stated ignoring the fact that the acceptance letter itself offered an infallible argument that the boy in front of him was capable of using magic. "However, as a half-human… in theory you should be able to use it… I don't know how well… but you certainly will," Snape assured him.

Not that it would help Vergil's case. Devils were a rare occasion; nowadays barely a handful of people would recognize one on sight. With red eyes throwing people off it would be much easier to make him 'Voldemort incarnate'. Dumbledore had figured it out, but perhaps not even the Hogwarts staff would figure it out unless they saw Vergil actually using the powers of devils.

"Say, shouldn't I have some cover up in case anyone gets curious?" Vergil suddenly asked.

"You're a muggleborn… that way most people won't suspect anything," Snape replied, though it was obvious that he too found the lack of proper explanation troubling. Vergil just popped out of nowhere, well truthfully he crossed the worlds, but there were no past records, no documents, if someone at the Ministry chose to investigate it could cause problems.

Vergil tilted his head slightly. "You humans do have identification documents, don't you?" he sounded astonished, everyone in Thanatos had at least one document confirming their identity.

Snape narrowed his eyes. "We do," yes, they did have a problem if even an eleven year old could see it.

"How about a war orphan, documents would probably get lost or destroyed if I fled from a war zone," Vergil suggested and in a way it was true. He did come from a war infested world, though he lost his parents much earlier due to his mother dying and his father, well he pretty much abandoned him.

Snape thought it over for a few moments and then nodded. The idea would work, probably in a long run as well.

 _ **~X~**_

The Leaky Cauldron, on the outside it was a tiny, grubby looking pub, on the inside it wasn't that much better; simply dark and shabby. The old bartender gave Snape a curt nod but other than that Vergil didn't notice anyone paying more than simple acknowledgement to the man. Not that Snape minded that, from the few days Vergil spent with Snape he figured the man didn't think much of a social status; in fact since Dumbledore left he hadn't seen anyone visiting Snape.

Vergil fought back a smirk when he realized that if he was any more talkative or childish Snape would be fairly irritated. As things were right now Vergil guessed he was being bearable.

Snape led him behind the Leaky Cauldron into a small, walled courtyard with a dustbin. Vergil carefully watched as Snape tapped a brick on the wall three times thus making a hole appear in it. The hole grew bigger and when it finally stopped expanding it was quite big making the boy wonder why it was that large. Nonetheless he left those questions in the back of his mind once he saw the actual place.

The place was crowded, too crowded for Vergil's taste. The architecture was kind of wacky, with the walls and pillars being curved on some of the buildings. The place was a real merchant area, with shops selling all sorts of things occupying the place.

The red eyed boy felt his energy being drained by simply looking at the place. He looked at Snape, from the looks of it the man wasn't exactly thrilled to be here either. Vergil found solace in that small fact, at least he wasn't suffering on his own. Well, looking at it from the brighter side this would be a new experience. He could get a new beginning, he could enjoy this. Who knows, maybe this world would become his home.

 _ **~X~**_

The moment Vergil stepped into the bookshop, Flourish and Blotts he was struck by the scent of parchment, old and new alike, he could also smell sweat. The shop was crowded, it was hot, and the cacophony of noise made Vergil's world spin just a bit. He could feel a headache coming as most of his senses got overwhelmed. Everyone else seemed to be fine, unaffected; he couldn't blame them, devils had sharper senses, not by much, but it was enough to make a difference.

' _Just get the books and get out_ ,' he took a deep breath, instantly regretting that decision and moved towards the crowd of children about his age. Surely the books he needed would be there.

Quidditch Through the Ages, well that one certainly wasn't on his list. He let out a small, barely audible groan. It was getting difficult to think and the crowd seemed to be getting even larger.

"Are you feeling alright sweetie?"

Snape, he needed to find Snape.

A hand touching his shoulder made him jump, he quickly turned around and his eye widened just a bit as he took in a concerned expression on the woman's face.

"I'm sorry, dear, I didn't mean to frighten you, you just-" and she halted, realizing the color of the eye looking back at her.

Vergil blinked a few times and then realized what happened. "I'm fine. Excuse me, I have to go," he lowered his head, hiding the red eye and moved past the woman. She sounded kind, concerned, and for the first time Vergil realized just what his eye color could mean.

 _ **~X~**_

Keeping his eye half closed proved to be a fairly successful plan, sure, he couldn't do that for the rest of his life, but he wanted the day to end and that's all. Hell, he'd take nightmares over this shopping trip, at least in the nightmares his red eyes didn't bother people.

"And all that's left is a wand," he finally let out a sigh of relief, they'd go to whatever shop sold those, get the stick and walk out.

"Don't look so eager," Snape said crushing Vergil's hopes in a less than a dozen words. "It might take the longest."

Vergil's shoulders slumped at that and he couldn't suppress a groan. "Terrific," he grumbled, huffed and followed Snape to the final shop.

 _ **~X~**_

'Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.' that was the first thing Vergil saw when they closed in on the building. They entered the tiny shop that only had a spindly chair in the corner and thousands of boxes. Vergil assumed those were the sticks humans called wands and used while doing magic. The two waited for a few moments for the shop owner to appear.

"Good afternoon," an old man with wide pale eyes spoke softly. "Professor Snape, another muggleborn?" he questioned when he noticed Snape with Vergil.

"An orphan," Snape's response was quick and short and for a moment it seemed like Ollivander's eyes softened considerably, that is until he took a good look at Vergil's eye.

It may have been a small miracle, but thankfully Ollivander got over his shock quickly and addressed the boy. "I am Garrick Ollivander, and you are?" Ollivander introduced himself.

"Vergil Leonidas," short direct answer, no need to drag this out more than necessary.

"Mr. Leonidas. Let me see. Which is your wand arm?" as he asked that he took a long tape measure out of his pocket.

Vergil looked at him a bit confused and then figured he wanted to know which his dominant arm was, thinking back he figured the right arm was the more dominant one, though he was proficient enough with his left one as well. "Right arm, I suppose."

"Hold out your arm," Ollivander instructed and the tape began measuring Vergil on its own. "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Leonidas. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

Halfling felt a bit uncomfortable as the tape measured absolutely everything, even his nostrils… Luckily, the measuring was soon done and Ollivander handed him a wand.

"Mr. Leonidas. Try this one. Cedar and phoenix feather. 10 inches. Just take it and give it a wave," Vergil did as he was told and nothing happened. Ollivander took it from his hand and offered another one.

"Holly and dragon heartstrings, 13 inches."

Again with a new wand and again it was snatched from his hand.

"No. Ebony and dragon heartstrings, 9 inches."

And again it was no good.

"Yew and unicorn hair, 8 inches."

Nope, not a chance.

Vergil lost count on how many wands he had tried when the number went over two dozens and that was way too long ago for his liking. "Don't you have something lightning related?" Vergil asked feeling way too tired by the consistent lack of success when it came to finding a good wand. Honestly he didn't think much of it, it was a stick, how could it be this important.

However, his question was left unheard as Ollivander continued searching way too deeply invested into his own thought process.

Snape remembered the lightning shaped scar and thought back to the black orb Vergil could produce. As far as he knew it was rare for devils to have the ability to control more than one element but the question along with the scar made Snape suspect that Vergil could indeed use at least two elements.

"Tricky customer," despite saying that Ollivander looked pleased, way too pleased for Vergil's liking. "Let's see… Yes, why not," Ollivander went to another shelf and pulled out a box.

An hour later all three of them were exhausted to a varying degree. Ollivander was still excited at the challenging task, but his sentiment was nowhere to be found in the other two.

"I'd like to take a break," Vergil suddenly spoke up for the first time since he mentioned lightning. He didn't wait for permission, he didn't even wait for a response, he just stood up and walked out of the doors. It was his devil half, his blood. There was no way he would ever get a wand to choose him, or whatever that old man kept spouting about. "I can take care of myself, you can go home, tell the Headmaster I'm not suitable for magic."

"Follow me," Snape simply replied and in those two words Vergil heard the grand display of authority, the voice commanded respect and left him with no desire to fight back. Reluctantly the boy followed.

As they walked the mood began changing, the air grew thicker, almost as if light-hearted feeling of the frantic alley was banished from the place they were at. The buildings looked darker, more sinister to Vergil and growing up in Thanatos he was immediately reminded of the shady alleys where even shadier business was unfolding.

The Spiny Serpent, Vergil figured it was a proper name for this kind of street. Snape opened the doors and Vergil followed his inside only to find the doors closing before he could step in.

"Really?" he tried to open the doors, but it was locked. "Well, the lock is likely made out of metal, or something like that," he muttered and placed his palm next to the door handle. Closing his eye he focused on his palm, letting enough electricity through to latch onto the metal, yet keeping it from burning the wooden doors. He slowly moved his hand, directing the metal pieces he needed to unlock the doors. And then he swept his hand to the right, forcing the doors open. "See? It's pointless to use locks like these with me."

The shop owner's jaw dropped, and Snape actually glared at him.

Snape paused for a moment before walking over to Vergil. "What were you thinking? I was about to let you in," he hissed, a tiniest bit of irritation was well hidden but still there for Vergil to see.

"I couldn't know that," Vergil replied evenly, for the first time since he arrived in this world, he felt power coursing through him. He felt like he could actually do something, like he wasn't restrained by his human half. And with that feeling came the confidence to talk back, to fight back.

"Severus, he is," the shop owner spoke up, lifting the tension from the air as Snape and Vergil turned to look at him. "His eye…"

"I assure you he isn't who you think he is. Now, Cobra, do you have any wands with, thunderbird feather core?" Snape asked, apparently again if his demeanor was anything to go by.

"I do, they are expensive, so you better think this through. And I don't want you running to me when the brat accidentally curses someone just because they looked at him the wrong way," the shop owner, Cobra, warned before going to the back room.

"Cobra?" Vergil questioned.

"It's a codename, people like him need one," Snape replied just as Cobra came back.

Vergil took a better look at the man, aside from the burnt left forearm the man looked quite ordinary, a bit shorter than Snape, but obviously more muscular, it was obvious even under the robes he was wearing. He wasn't remotely as old as Dumbledore, perhaps he was around seventy years old, with grey hair and unkempt beard. The eyes were the only giveaway of how dangerous the man was. That was the look of a killer and Vergil knew it.

Cobra placed three wands in front of them. One was 12 inches, the one next to it 10 and a half and final one 13 inches. "One is unyielding, one is rigid, one is slightly yielding. As for wood, there's willow, red oak or blackthorn. So, which one?" Cobra never pointed at any of the wands to make it clear which one he was talking about and Vergil figured it was so that he would somehow choose the one he felt was right for him.

Not that it mattered, the information given to him wasn't valuable in any means. He reached out for the one on the left and then, right before he touched it something in the one on the right caught his attention. He touched it, took it and then it happened. A burst of electricity emerged, warming the boy and surrounding him. His own soul resonated with the wand and when the electricity vanished, he was met with Cobra's utterly shocked expression-

Maybe it was a coincidence but as he turned to look at Snape, he saw his eye in the mirror. His sclera turned as red as his iris, the only part of his eye that didn't turn red was his pupil, it was still pitch black, only a bit narrower. As soon as he saw it Vergil recoiled, horrified at what he was seeing, and his eye turned back to normal.

"How much?" Snape asked, if he was aware of what happened he wasn't showing it.

"Take it for free. Boy, I expect to see you again," Cobra smirked and Vergil, still affected by what he saw simply nodded.

 _ **~X~**_

A month and a half passed and September the first came, the destination Vergil needed to reach first was King's Cross station and then the platform nine and three quarters. Snape would guide him to the station and then he'd be on his own.

Wordlessly Snape led Vergil through the crowd mostly made up of non-magical humans, muggles as Snape called them. Strangely he stopped at the pillar between platforms nine and ten.

"Pass through," Snape said and walked through the pillar.

"Thanks a lot," Vergil grunted, but if Snape could do it he should be able to do it too. Believing that it was possible, it happened in front of his eyes after all, he just walked through.

A scarlet steam engine and a platform filled with people. That's what Vergil found. Families saying goodbye to their children, the noisy children running around, the chit-chat and some complaints as well as the sounds of carts being moved to the train. He took in the sight in front of him briefly and turned to Snape.

"Thank you for such a detailed explanation on what the hell I am supposed to do," Vergil said sarcastically. He was nearly certain Snape would have returned the sarcasm with his own dose of it, if he had the chance.

"Severus. I didn't expect to see you here," a voice made them both turn around to face a pale man with pointed face, pale blond hair and cold grey eyes carrying a walking stick with a snake head. Next to him was a tall, slim, very pale woman with blue eyes and long blonde hair, one could easily describe her as good looking as well.

"Lucius, Narcissa," Snape greeted them.

"I assume he is the reason why you're here," Lucius guessed and looked at Vergil, the red eye clashed with his grey eyes, the blood red color sent a small shiver down Lucius' spine.

"Yes," Snape replied.

"Draco is already on the train, maybe you should hurry up," Narcissa spoke to Vergil in a cold, clear voice. Both her and her husband knew what Snape's presence meant, either he was Snape's son or orphan cousin, which was not possible since they'd know that, or he was muggleborn, yet the similarity in those eyes, those cold, blood red eyes…

"And Draco is?" Vergil asked.

"Our son. It's his first year, as is yours…" Lucius waited for Vergil to state his name.

"Vergil Leonidas," Vergil stated.

"…Mr. Leonidas," Lucius finished.

"Well then, I'm off professor," Vergil said, he nodded to the couple out of courtesy and grinned at Snape before he began pushing the cart to the train.

Easily enough he boarded the train and found an empty compartment to sit in with his left eye facing the window so he could look outside.

A knock on the doors barely a few minutes afterwards made him turn, something he hated the bandage covering his right eye for. He saw a round-faced boy standing there timidly. Vergil motioned for him to come in.

"Thank you," the boy said, he sounded even more timid than he looked. "I'm Neville Longbottom."

"Don't mention it. I'm Vergil Leonidas," Vergil offered him his hand and the timid boy accepted the handshake.

"Um… Are you in the first year?" Neville asked.

"Yeah. You?" Vergil casually replied and continued the conversation.

"Same," Neville seemed to relax just a little bit. "I'll probably be sorted into Hufflepuff," he mumbled more to himself. "What house do you think you'll be sorted into?"

"Honestly, I have no idea," all Vergil knew about the houses was the fact that Snape was the head of the Slytherin house.

Neville nodded and began looking around. "Oh no!" Neville exclaimed. "I've lost him!"

That got Vergil's attention. "Lost who?"

"Trevor! My toad. He keeps getting away from me!" Neville cried out clearly panicking over his lost toad.

And the half devil didn't really know what to say to that.

"I'm going to go and look for him," Neville resigned and miserably left the compartment leaving Vergil alone.

 _ **~X~**_

A few hours later the door to his compartment opened, forcing Vergil to once again turn to see who came in.

"Anything off the trolley, dear?" a smiling older woman offered him.

Vergil glanced at the sweets and shook his head. "No thanks, I don't really like sweets."

The woman, though somewhat surprised nodded and left Vergil there.

For about ten minutes Vergil kept looking outside, finally his eye closed and he began falling asleep despite his best efforts not to.

"Hey, it's strange to see someone alone on the train," he was woken up by a female voice and frankly he was thankful for that, it was only a matter of time before nightmares began without the potion Snape kept giving him.

Still, Vergil covered his mouth with his hand and yawned.

"Sorry, I didn't realize you were sleeping," the girl said and entered the compartment without even asking for permission.

Vergil finally looked at her, she was obviously older than him, at least a couple of years and she was already dressed in Hogwarts robes. If green was anything to go by she was in Slytherin. She had piercing sapphire blue eyes and particularly light brown hair.

"Don't worry about it," he couldn't hide the sleepiness in his voice but he did his best to seem as attentive as he could be at the moment.

The girl grinned at him slightly. "You're a first year, aren't you? I'm Gemma Farley, fifth year Slytherin prefect," she offered him her hand.

Vergil rose up a bit and accepted the hand shake. "Vergil Leonidas, nice to meet you. You're right, I am a first year," and then he figured he had no idea what a prefect was. "What's a prefect?" he asked without a hint of hesitation.

It appeared as if Gemma found his question a bit amusing. "A student with extra responsibility and authority, I can take points and give you detention, of course if you happen to get into Slytherin," she replied.

Vergil nodded. "Why are you on your own?" he was curious, a fifth year should have someone to hang out with, right?

This time Gemma chuckled uncomfortably and scratched the side of her cheek. "Keep it a secret, okay?" when Vergil nodded she grinned a bit. "My friends are really panicking over the O.W.L. exams so I didn't feel like going back to them. Prefects' compartment is off limits because it's getting really hard to watch Weasley and Clearwater play their game of will they won't they," she made a small pause as her eyes softened up a bit. "You also looked quite lonely on your own."

Vergil just stared at her blankly after she finished her last sentence. "I was sleeping,"

Gemma shrugged. "I couldn't tell. Anyway since you don't know what a prefect is I suppose you're a muggleborn, right?" there wasn't any maliciousness in her question, she was simply curious.

"I can't tell, I'm an orphan," Vergil casually went with the cover story and began regretting it as soon as he noticed pity and obvious awkwardness Gemma seemed to be dealing with.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked," she stammered and quickly looked away.

Vergil suppressed a groan at that. This wasn't the reaction he wanted and he cursed himself for not going along with muggleborn cover. "Hey, you couldn't know, besides if I was sensitive about it I wouldn't have told you," he tried to reason with her.

Gemma finally looked at him again. "So which professor introduced you to the magic?"

"Professor Snape," he sounded really eager when he said that, it surprised him the most but over the last month and a half he really got fond of the potions master.

Gemma seemed a bit surprised. "Professor doesn't usually deal with that job, you're a lucky kid. I mean when it comes to that," she quickly added the last sentence.

Vergil actually laughed at that. "I tend to have a love hate relationship with Lady Luck; in fact I can get so unlucky that the ladder automatically closes so I can't walk under it."

Gemma shook her head in amusement at that. "You're joking."

"Maybe," the grin on Vergil's face remained, the uncomfortable moment seemed to be over.

Unfortunately they didn't have much time to continue talking. Doors opened and he and Gemma saw Neville coming in followed by a bushy brown haired girl with rather large front teeth.

"He'll turn up Neville," the girl tried to assure him thus bringing Vergil to the conclusion that Trevor the toad had not been found and was still missing in action. "How come you didn't help Neville out?" she asked Vergil when she noticed him there.

"Didn't feel like it," Vergil replied bluntly making the girl sigh and Gemma smirk.

"Well you should have. I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?" she cut to the point.

"Vergil Leonidas."

"Gemma Farley."

Granger noticed the prefect badge on Gemma's robes. "Oh, you're a Slytherin prefect. Personally I hope I'll be in Gryffindor, it sounds the best by far. I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be bad either," she certainly was talkative as she quickly struck a conversation.

Gemma raised an eyebrow at that. "Guess we'll be bound by tradition to be enemies."

"Enemies?" Vergil was the one left confused by the statement and he seemed to be the only one.

"Gryffindor and Slytherin houses have centuries long rivalry," Granger was the one to explain it.

Vergil tilted his head slightly, still confused over Gemma's choice of words. He turned to the older Slytherin. "So wouldn't word 'rival' be more fitting?"

Much to Vergil's annoyance she tried to pat him on top of the head, key word tried since he moved out of her reach the moment he realized what she was trying.

Once again Gemma found the white haired boy in front of her to be quite amusing. "Give it time and you'll see why I said enemies."

Feeling a bit put on spot Vergil tossed his robes on and went for the door. "Come on, let's just find the toad," he decided to change the topic and left the compartment.

Granger and Neville exchanged a glance and quickly nodded to smirking Gemma. "We already asked around, no one has seen him," Granger told Vergil as she followed him closely behind while Neville seemed not so hopeful.

"We'll just look around then, it's a toad, in a filled train. It's probably scared so it's hiding," Vergil guessed and began looking around for places where a toad could fit in and hide.

Hermione and Neville kept following him for about fifteen minutes. He knelt down and reached into a small space near the doors. "There you are," he pulled the toad out.

"Trevor!" Neville exclaimed and took the toad from Vergil. "Thank you!" The round-faced boy seemed really happy.

"Don't mention it," Vergil replied and just as he said that the train began slowing down until it finally stopped.

They reached the Hogwarts. As train stopped Vergil felt thankful for being near the doors as he could see people crowding the corridor. He opened the doors, the cold air hit him right in the face but he suppressed the small shiver. He stepped down to the platform followed by Neville who got surprised by sudden cold air. Timid boy stumbled a bit, nearly falling in the process as Vergil stilled him on the platform.

"Thanks," Neville whispered.

Vergil gave him a small nod as Hermione joined them. The students all seemed excited despite the obvious cold and the girl just seemed ready to start talking even more about Hogwarts.

They noticed a lamp bobbing over the heads of other students. "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?" a large man with big hairy face, known as Hagrid, beamed over the sea of students. "C'mon, follow me, any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Vergil wordlessly began following, it was a steep narrow path and through mixing in with the crowd he got separated from Neville and Hermione.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder. "Jus' round this bend here."

And then they saw it, the beautiful castle, a large magnificent building with numerous tall towers known as Hogwarts.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid instructed as he pointed to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.

Vergil climbed into the first boat he came across, incidentally he ended up in the boat with a blond boy that looked way too much like the man he met on the train station. Lucius was it? Yeah, that one, the one who said he had a son in the same year as Vergil. Judging by his appearance this must be him. Well, it didn't matter as all the students stared at the castle that towered over them.

Following instructions they bent their heads down and sailed underneath the cliff, slowly the boats got them all the way to the underground harbor.

The rest of the walk to their destination was pleasant with stone steps instead of steep road. The echoing sounds of children stepping toward their new school seemed similar to a march. None of them wanted to get separated, get left behind or miss anything so the first years formed a kind of rhythm, a fast paced march…

"Everyone here?" Hagrid asked and then raised his fist. He knocked three times on the castle door.

The door swung open and the students saw a tall, black haired witch in emerald green robes.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid informed her.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here," Professor McGonagall pulled the door wide open and led the students into the entrance hall which had stone wall lit with flaming torches and a very high ceiling, they could see marble staircase leading to the upper floor. She showed them into a small chamber off the hall thus they stood rather close together, mostly because of their nerves.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall began. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room," she made sure everyone was paying attention.

She proceeded to explain about the houses themselves. "The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting," her eyes lingered for a moment on a couple of students. "I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly," and with that she left the chamber.

Vergil leaned against the wall and waited. If there was a test, well he'd just have to rely on luck, even if he failed he didn't really care.

Screams of several kids made him look up and his eyes widened. _'What the hell…?'_ What appeared out of nowhere were ghosts, about twenty of them in fact and they seemed to be arguing. The half devil didn't really pay much of an attention to the conversation; he was too absorbed in the way they looked and moved and in the thoughts of possibilities…

He didn't even hear one of the ghosts making a question directed at them, the students.

"Move along now," the potential conversation was stopped by none other than Professor McGonagall. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start," the ghosts floated through the opposite wall. "Now, form a line and follow me," she turned to the first years.

Vergil stood behind the nervous Neville and walked out of the chamber, went back across the hall, through the double doors and into the Great Hall, which was probably one of the most magnificent places he had ever seen. Lit by thousands of candles floating in midair over four long tables with a long table at the top of the hall where the teachers were sitting. Vergil let himself grin slightly when he saw Snape; it was kinda weird, spending so many hours without the potions master.

Professor McGonagall stopped and they came to a halt with teachers now behind them and all the other students looking at them. McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of them and then put a pointed wizard's hat on it as well. The hat looked quite worn out, patched and frayed and extremely dirty. And then, much to Vergil's surprise the hat twitched and began singing.

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty, but don't judge on what you see."

So far the only thought that came to Vergil's mind was: _Humans sure make weird things._

"You're in safe hands (though I have none) for I'm a Thinking Cap!"

The hall burst into applause once the hat finished singing. It bowed to each of the four tables before Professor McGonagall stepped forward with a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she explained and looked at the first name on her list. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of the line, put on the hat that was too big for her. The hat fell over her eyes and she sat down. A few moments later the decision was made. "Hufflepuff!" the table of that house erupted in cheers.

The sorting continued with Terry Boot becoming the first Ravenclaw, Lavander Brown becoming the first Gryffindor and Millicent Bulstrode the first Slytherin.

"Granger, Hermione!" the girl Vergil met on the train almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat way too eagerly on her head.

"Gryffindor!"

A few minutes passed and then.

"Leonidas, Vergil!" upon hearing his name Vergil walked up to the stool and put the hat on.

' _Hmm… A half-devil, I haven't had many of those, only one before you actually,_ ' Vergil felt his heart stop when he heard the voice of the hat. ' _Now where to put you…? Clearly not patient or kind enough. There's not much overall thirst for knowledge, you're quite selective of what you are willing to spend your time on. You certainly have a nerve and you are indeed very brave, perhaps even reckless. On the other hand, you've got quite a bit of ambition and determination, you are cunning enough and loyal to those you care about,_ ' the hat seemed to ponder between the two possibilities. ' _Gryffindor might be the better choice though; you are quite a bit of a dare-devil, no pun intended._ '

' _Oh, it was completely intended_ ,' Vergil remarked. ' _How about Slytherin?_ '

' _You do fit in and you want it as well. Well then, let it be…_ '

"Slytherin!"

Vergil walked up to the cheering table and the first thing that actually caught his eye was the house ghost. Bloody Baron, a horrible looking ghost with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face and robes stained with silvery blood.

"Hey there, I'm really glad you were sorted into Slytherin," Gemma was the first to speak to him, he went to pat him again, though this time on the shoulder and he allowed it offering the girl a smile.

"So you can exercise authority over me?" he joked.

To this Gemma feigned being hurt. "Never," but she had a teasing grin on her face.

"Longbottom, Neville!" Neville was called and he actually fell on his way to the stool. It took a while but the hat finally made its decision.

"Gryffindor!"

Neville, too happy with the house he was put in ran off with the hat still on, thus making himself the cause of a fit of laughter. The laughing filled the hall when he had to run back to give it back.

Still as he sat down he glanced at the Slytherin table and at Vergil, he looked kinda saddened by the fact that they ended up in different houses and Gryffindor and Slytherin on top of that.

"Malfoy, Draco!" if Neville's was the longest up until now this was one the fastest.

The hat barely touched Draco's head when it screamed. "Slytherin!"

A few minutes later the event of the night came.

"Potter, Harry!" There was a bit of silence and Vergil recognized the name Potter as one of the few Snape mentioned back when they first met. That was the one who defeated Voldemort, The Boy Who Lived… Whispers began filling the hall and Harry broke the current record for the longest time it took the hat to decide.

But eventually… "Gryffindor!"

It was the loudest cheer so far as the raven-haired boy shakily walked toward the Gryffindor table.

"Weasley, Ronald!" one of the last to be sorted, red haired boy, sat on the stool. Vergil remembered the last name Weasley from what Gemma mentioned earlier, this one was probably related to that Weasley prefect.

"Gryffindor!"

"Zabini, Blaise!" and this was the last one.

"Slytherin!" as Professor McGonagall rolled up the scroll and took the Sorting Hat away Blaise sat down next to Vergil.

Albus Dumbledore stood up and beamed at the students with his arms open wide. "Welcome," he began warmly. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" he sat down and everyone clapped and cheered.

"The hell did I get myself into…?" Vergil muttered to himself and then noticed the food in front of him. All kinds of it.

The talk of the table soon became the families. As it turned out most of the Slytherin house was pure-blood.

"What about you?" Malfoy turned to Vergil.

"No idea," Vergil bit out much to the surprise of the ones around him. He didn't need anyone's pity, while Gemma seemed to get over it quickly enough he didn't feel like risking.

Malfoy observed him carefully but before he could inquire anything else he felt Gemma glaring subtly at him. "Well you're at least Half-blood, otherwise you wouldn't be sorted into Slytherin," he deduced for himself.

The conversation was cut short when Dumbledore stood up once again. "Just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well," Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed toward the Gryffindor table, more precisely to the red haired twins.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year; the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Vergil had to smirk at that warning. What a way to start a year, scare students half to death.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" Dumbledore's sudden exclamation made the Halfling's eyes widen. Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

"Everyone pick their favorite tune and off we go!" the Head Master said and the school bellowed.

"No way in hell," Vergil hissed. He wouldn't be caught dead singing, anything, let alone song that started like this.

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, teach us something please, whether-"

NO, no way in Hell. None of that. He was not going to sing this.

Everyone singing finished the song at different times, only the Weasley twins were still singing their very slow funeral march.

' _Fitting_.' Vergil had to smirk at that.

Dumbledore was one of those who clapped very loudly when the two finished the song. "Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

The Slytherin first years followed after Gemma, downstairs and into the dungeons where their common room was. Farley showed them the way and the ten new Slytherins were sent to their rooms.

Vergil sat on his bed and looked at his roommates, Draco Malfoy, Gregory Goyle, a dull-eyed, silent bodyguard-like part of Malfoy follower duo, Vincent Crabbe, the very large second half of the already established duo of Malfoy followers. The two seemed to follow Malfoy everywhere. Blaise Zabini, a tall, dark skinned boy and Theodore Nott, like Zabini he was tall, but also rather thin. Well, so far Vergil was fine with this. He turned his gaze to the lake above them, it was one of the reasons why the room was going to be very cold as winter comes, but Vergil would take that over excruciatingly exhausting heat, plus he was a darkness devil, he like cold places. Even if it got too cold lightning would keep his body heated up to normal body temperature in most occasions.

* * *

 _ **And that's it. The first chapter, tell me what you think in reviews and see you in the next chapter.**_


	2. Magic 101

_**Chapter 2 – Magic 101**_

* * *

It was Vergil's first night at Hogwarts. He had taken the dreamless sleep potion, something he did ever since Snape introduced him to the handy little liquid. So why in the electricity deprived hell was he waking up?

"-idas, hey, wake up. Leonidas," as drowsy from the potion as he was Vergil barely registered the whispering coming from his left.

Vergil groaned, hoping that the potion would still work if he just turned around and kept sleeping.

"I need help, come on," the voice was persistent, he'll give him that. "Leonidas!" desperate for attention voice began shaking him.

Finally, Vergil gave in, his eye opened and he looked at the owner of the voice. "What is it?" his voice was hoarse, so he paused to swallow. "More importantly, who are you?" the boy by his side was looking rather thin.

"Oh, I'm Theodore Nott," it sounded like the boy was slightly taken aback. "Boy, you really are a heavy sleeper."

' _Sure_ ,' if he didn't have his bandage on, he likely would have raised an eyebrow at that. "So, what do you need?"

Nott seemed a bit nervous as he scratched the back of his head. "Could you stay awake with me for a bit? I'm kinda scared."

"Scared?" Vergil asked trying not to sound annoyed.

"Aha, of dark," Nott mumbled for the first time making Vergil aware of pitch darkness around them.

It was ridiculous, so ridiculous Vergil couldn't find will to just turn around and fall asleep again. After all those years in Thanatos perhaps he craved some normal fear, something that wasn't due to traumas of war. Just normal fears of normal people. "It is really dark isn't it? A bit unnerving," he admitted, it was unusual for a darkness devil to have any negative feelings toward darkness, but he was agitated by it.

Nott sort of perked up at that. Vergil couldn't blame him, after all he couldn't know Vergil could pretty much see everything in the dark, the small grin included. Sure, there weren't any colors, and the grey look made everything bland, but he could see.

"Yes! You can't see what's going on around you, it's so – I don't really know how to put it into words," Nott took liberty and sat down on Vergil' bed.

"Empty? Endless? Chilling?" Vergil offered, he never really talked about it before, but he understood just how awful darkness could be. He remembered hiding, trying to calm down as he watched soldiers looking for him in the dark. It was the most horrifying feeling, hoping against hope that none of the devils could see in the dark.

Nott nodded and then seemed to remember that, as far as he was concerned, Vergil couldn't see him. "That. It always scared me, especially when I'm in a new place."

"That's natural. You just need time to relax. Go to bed and we can talk until you fall asleep," Vergil offered. The thought that the dreamless sleep potion won't work by the time Nott fell asleep did linger in the back of his mind, but he could take that risk.

Nott pondered on the idea a bit and then stood up. Slowly, due to being dark, he made his way to the bed. It turned out it was close to Vergil's, just by the opposite wall. He hit the suitcase and winced, Vergil flinched at that. In the hindsight, he likely should have warned Nott, but that would take a lot of explaining.

"Why me?" the question slipped out before Vergil could stop to think about it.

"Huh? Oh, you mean why I woke you before anyone else?" Nott replied with a question of his own.

"That's the gist of it."

"Crabbe and Goyle are stupid and Draco would make fun of me, I know all three of them. Our fathers get along. That left you and Zabini and he looks a bit vain," Nott explained after a bit of thought.

"I'm surprised you managed to find me in the dark," he was fine with the answer he got.

"That was easy, Draco is next to you, Goyle and Zabini are opposite of doors and Crabbe is next to me."

Vergil processed the information for a bit. "You remember my name even though we haven't talked, you've deduced Zabini is vain from a coupe of hours we spent here, and you remember where each of us sleep on the first night while being afraid of dark. That's good attention to detail."

"That's what I do," he was starting to sound sleepy. Vergil on the other hand kept looking at the water, he wasn't even going to try to fall asleep again. Not with someone as attentive as Nott, he wasn't going to risk having a nightmare.

 _ **~X~**_

Hours later Vergil found himself wandering the castle halls. He stepped out the moment he heard voices in the common room, saw a couple of older students and asked if he could go outside now. They said he could and so he did. He just wanted to kill some time, get a better feel of the castle. Apparently, he didn't have to worry about getting lost as most portraits would happily point him toward the Great Hall, or any other place, if he asked nicely enough.

Hogwarts was not exactly what Vergil expected it to be, not that he had much of an expectation in the first place, but he certainly did not expect hell of a lot of moving staircases, some even had vanishing steps from what he heard. He was willing to bet at least someone got hurt. A harmless thought that maybe someone currently known as dark wizard went mad because he forgot the step, fell and was laughed at for it. Causing the innocent eleven years old to spend seven years remembering that detail of his life thus making him bitter and mad.

"Hello there," a voice made him look to his right, up at a portrait of an old man with long beard.

"Hello," Vergil replied, still a bit unnerved by talking portraits.

"It's been nearly thousand years since someone like me walked through this castle, welcome little halfling," old man told him.

Vergil's eye widened at that. And then the portrait's eyes flashed red, red like Vergil's. "You're also a cambion."

"I just don't show it. Welcome to Hogwarts, I'm sure you'll like it here, even if I'll be watching you," the old man in the portrait began walking away. "You should hurry down and get something to eat."

Vergil just stood there for a bit, dumbfounded by what just happened. He had no idea who the old man was, he had no idea what to do about it, it was likely he couldn't do anything about it. The old man said he would watch him, and Vergil doubted it would be smart to electrify a portrait. _'How in the electricity deprived hell am I supposed to react to this?'_

He was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't notice someone approaching him until he felt something slam into him.

"What are you doing standing there?" the bossy sounding voice exclaimed, clearly exasperated by what just happened. Strangely the voice sounded familiar.

"Granger?" Vergil recognized the bushy haired girl.

"Hey Leonidas, why are you spacing out in the middle of the hall?" Granger was still a bit grumpy over their sudden meeting.

"Why aren't you looking where you're going?" Vergil challenged and then noticed the pile of books on the floor.

Granger knelt and started picking the books up. "I couldn't see you, or anything really."

Vergil smirked a bit and began picking the books up as well. "Figures. You know, I hear library is open at almost all times. You don't have to carry this many at the same time."

She glared at him. "I wanted to read tonight and wasn't sure what to pick first. Now give them to me."

He observed Granger, smirk gone from his face. "I don't want to," underneath the mane of her brown hair she was a small girl and the pile of books obscured her vision. Plus, the books were quite heavy, at least by human standard. Frankly he was impressed she carried them all the way from the library.

"Vergil give them to me, now," she sure sounded even bossier now that she was annoyed.

"You're taking them to your room, right? Let me carry this to wherever Gryffindors are, once you take those books up to your room come back down and I'll give these to you as well."

Granger seemed to study him, question if he was being truthful or just teasing her. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, why else would I offer it?"

She scowled at him and then walked right by him. "Follow me then."

"Aye, aye, ma'am," he jokingly saluted, nearly dropping the books due to the motion. When Granger groaned he couldn't help but chuckle, thoughts of the old cambion portrait guy watching him banished from his head for the time being.

 _ **~X~**_

Whoever thought opening the year with History of Magic wasn't looking for a way to make the students eager for what was to come.

Professor Binns, a ghost, probably had every right to teach this particular class and Vergil had no doubt the man knew what he was talking about. However, what he was talking about was beyond Vergil.

"Thus, Uric the Oddball-" Vergil wanted to listen, at the very least for the first couple of lessons. That was the initial goal; which then changed into at least minutes of the first one when the details of the task became clear. The ghost had such a magically boring voice, droning on and on without anything to liven up the class. All they heard were names and dates, and once again Vergil didn't dare doubt them to be correct, he just doesn't remember a single thing after the four-minute mark into the first lesson. There was no need to take dreamless sleep potion, all he needed was a way to somehow get Binns to talk to him through the night. It certainly would be more productive than taking the potion daily.

"You sure were paying attention there, eh Leonidas?" Zabini walked up to him after the class had ended.

"Absolutely, I started fighting the battle when he reached the 'Thus Uric' part but prevailed when he got to 'the Oddball'," Vergil smirked, feeling absolutely no shame for falling asleep, even less when he saw other students looking like they just woke up.

The week went on and Vergil figured he wasn't really into Charms, or Herbology for that matter. The classes were sure to be useful, but he wasn't particularly interested into the topics.

 _ **~X~**_

Vergil ran up the stairs. _'Really great time to oversleep, McGonagall's first class and I'm racing with time,'_ he should really be more careful with the dreamless sleep potion.

"Oooh! Looky what we have here, a student running late!" and that was the last voice Vergil wanted to hear. Period.

"The notorious poltergeist Peeves, right?" Vergil guessed and barely evaded a chalk pelted at his head. "What? You thought the color would suit me?" Vergil lashed out, he was not fond of being attacked for no reason.

Peeves cackled and pulled the rug underneath Vergil's feet, forcing Vergil to jump up to the next staircase before he could fall.

"You're a fun one, just like Merlin before you, even quicker," Peeves cackled. "Show me what you've got halfling, no one will see," the poltergeist challenged Vergil.

"And here I thought I could actually keep it a secret," Vergil muttered. "Well, I guess I do need to get to class in time."

Peeves pelted a chalk right at Vergil forcing the boy to jump up and grab the stairs above him. The poltergeist cackled and grabbed a bucket filled with water just as Vergil was pulling himself up. "Wouldn't want to get soaked, now, would you?" flying had a lot of advantages, as Vergil figured the moment he saw Peeves above him ready to pour the water right on top of him.

Vergil lunged forward over the stairs and up to the next floor, it wasn't far, barely five feet away from where he previously stood, but it ensured only a few drops actually reached him. Smirking, he began running up the next staircase, shifting his weight from left to right to avoid chalks ricocheting all around him. A bunch of papers obscured his vision as he ran through them up the final staircase only to barely evade an armor that was promptly placed in his path. "Good one Peeves, nearly got me!" what he didn't count on was McGonagall appearing around the corner and he had to quickly shift his weight so that he crashed through the doors into a broom closet instead of her.

"Mr. Leonidas just what do you think you're doing?" McGonagall questioned as the boy in front of her rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. The older professor looked to the side where the mess Peeves made was and sighed. "If you're alright proceed to the classroom, you're one floor higher than you should be."

Vergil felt his cheeks heat up a bit due to embarrassment and he chuckled uncomfortably. "Right, my bad," he dashed down the stairs and into the classroom.

A few moments after Vergil took his seat McGonagall entered the classroom. "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," McGonagall opened up the class with quite a strict talking-to right away. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

She painted a clear picture that she was not someone you wanted to cross, fool around with her subject or anything of that nature. That certainly got Vergil's attention, this kind of teaching approach was more similar to what he was used to so he figured he could like this.

McGonagall proved she wasn't just talking the talk when she effortlessly changed the table into a pig and then reversed the process.

A lot of complicated instructions and notes later they were each given a match that they were supposed to turn into a needle.

Vergil pointlessly waved his wand around trying to get something to change. It didn't work.

He tried to envision the needle, and he could do that. The only problem was he couldn't envision a match shifting into a needle. He could modify the shape of his darkness and to an extent control his lightning but this, this was completely different.

Needless to say, none made any difference, thus the first actual homework had been given to them

 _ **~X~**_

That same day at midnight was the only time all four houses had the class at the same time. They were at the astronomy tower, so the sight was quite amazing. The stars shone above them, illuminated the lake and provided the small amount of light in the night.

Since this was the first time Slytherin was in the same class as Gryffindor Vergil took the chance.

"How are you doing?" he suddenly asked as he got a bit closer to Neville. A part of him figured Neville would have made at least some friend by now, seeing as it wasn't the case Vergil struck a conversation.

"Um… I'm doing fine… Still getting lost," Neville seemed just as nervous as the day Vergil met him. "You?"

"So far so good," they were both whispering, but apparently not quietly enough.

"Leonidas, Longbottom, I certainly hope that you can concentrate on the subject and tell me which star we are looking at," Sinistra requested, scolding them with her gaze.

Neville helplessly looked at Vergil who turned to look at her.

"Polaris, most commonly known as North Star or Pole Star," Vergil stated confidently thus surprising the woman.

"Very well, though I kindly recommend that you leave the chit chat for after the class," Sinistra, not having any evidence he wasn't paying attention settled for simple warning.

"Yes, Professor," Vergil nodded more for the sake of formality than anything else.

The rest of the class passed without any other disturbance; Vergil didn't really care but he figured Neville didn't feel like getting into any more trouble.

"How did you manage to listen and talk to me?" Neville asked immediately after the class.

"I didn't. I just figured it would be that one, her telescope was pointing at it, so I took my chances," Vergil grinned as the two walked down the stairs.

"You shouldn't have talked in class," Granger caught up with them.

"Hello to you too Granger. How are you doing? I'm fine thanks for asking, still settling down though," Vergil smirked as she scowled at him. "I know though, sorry if I distracted you."

That seemed to soften her up a bit. "You could just come to our table if you wanted to talk to Neville, you know?"

"Y-Yeah, if you'd like," Neville mumbled.

Vergil thought about it for a bit and nodded. "I might actually do that. How were the books you took from the library? Anything particularly interesting?"

Granger halted for a moment, not really expecting the questions. "I read most of them, it's amazing really, everything about magic. Hogwarts, A History, is the one you should start with, it's my favorite so far."

A scowl was the first response Vergil gave her. "History really isn't my thing; I don't think I'll enjoy it half as much as you did."

 _ **~X~**_

Defense Against the Dark Arts was an utter joke. From the overwhelming smell of garlic, which was the least problem they had, to the stuttering Quirrell who was pretty much a nervous wreck.

Vergil watched as the man tried to find a way to teach and failed miserably. Quirrell almost seemed afraid of the students, of kids! The half devil honestly didn't want to know how the classes for the seventh year were unfolding.

The man suddenly fell back into his chair, sweating, looking like he was about to faint. Students were confused whether to laugh or not, but Vergil noticed it. The reason for this reaction was his red eye.

Voldemort Incarnate strikes again, he was really getting pissed at the wizard, couldn't he turn his eyes purple, or orange, or whatever rare eye color there was other than red? He made a small mental note to give the bastard hell if he ever got resurrected.

Yet… As he stepped out of the classroom, he felt a strong killing intent somewhere near him. Looking around all he saw were his classmates.

' _Where…?_ ' his senses heightened, the slit pupil of his eye narrowed, he steadied his breathing and saw it, the figure just making a sharp turn to the right, disappearing deeper into the castle.

 **~X~**

And so came Friday, the day in which they were scheduled to have Potions, which meant Snape.

Lessons were to be held in one of the dungeons, a place colder than up in the main castle, with pickled animals floating in glass jars around the walls.

Snape began the lesson by taking the roll call.

"Leonidas, Vergil," he called and glanced at slightly grinning Vergil with the eyes that clearly said: 'Don't you dare mess up,' simply because Vergil did spend some time living with him.

And then came Potter. "Ah, yes," he said surprisingly softly, "Harry Potter. Our new – celebrity."

Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle sniggered at that and Vergil could see that Potter went just a bit red from the somewhat snarky remark.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of Potion making," Snape began. Just like during the time Vergil spent with him he spoke in barely more than a whisper, yet everyone caught every word. Vergil's respect for the man shot up due to the dominant demeanor he had, so dominant that even the first-year students were effortlessly kept silent.

"As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach," there was a tiniest hint of passion in his voice and that was a new one for Vergil who was now pretty much certain he'd put all his effort into the subject.

Silence followed Snape's speech and then out of blue came a question. "Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Granger's hand shot up in the air to answer but Snape pretty much ignored her as he focused on Potter through and through.

"I don't know, sir," Potter admitted.

A sneer formed on Snape's lips. "Fame clearly isn't everything. Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Once again Granger tried to get Snape's attention, once again Potter had no idea what the answer was and once again Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle shook with laughter.

"I don't know, sir," Potter replied, looking like he wanted the ground to swallow him right then and there.

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" Snape sneered and still ignored Granger's hand. "What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

At this, Granger stood up, her hand stretching toward the dungeon ceiling.

"I don't know," Potter said quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"

Vergil had to say he agreed with Potter on that one, despite Snape not looking pleased at all.

"Sit down," Snape snapped at Granger. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"

Students quickly rummaged their bags for quills and parchment.

"And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter."

The lesson continued with Snape giving them the task of brewing a simple potion to cure boils and putting them into pairs. Vergil ended up being paired with Theodore Nott and they began making the potions.

"Mr. Malfoy has perfectly stewed his horned slugs. Now if all of you dunderheads could pay some attention to the directions in your books," Snape clearly favored Malfoy over many if not all students. And Vergil, well there was a certain sense of high expectation Vergil was getting from the man.

Cloud of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had messed up and managed to melt another cauldron into a twisted bold, the potions were seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. The class stood on their stools while Neville, who was drenched in potion moaned in pain as red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.

"Idiot boy!" Snape immediately snarled and cleared the spilled potion with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"

Neville whimpered as boils continue popping up.

"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at another student and turned to Potter and Weasley because they were working next to Neville. "You – Potter, why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor," Snape took another point from Gryffindor and eventually the class ended.

"Leonidas. Stay and brew the potion again," Snape said, fully aware that Vergil didn't have any more classes today.

"Yes, sir," Vergil casually walked back up to his table and began brewing again, he did a good job with the first one, but as he guessed, Snape had high expectations.

"Maybe you were a bit harsh." Vergil commented as he began brewing the potion.

"To Potter?" Snape sneered.

"More to Granger," Vergil looked up at Snape, hoping to see some sort of reaction. There wasn't any, Snape's face was blank.

"Did you ask to be put in Slytherin?" Snape asked out of blue.

"It was a contributing factor," Vergil admitted.

"Mind telling me why?" Snape inquired sounding just a bit irritated at the fact. "You are more of a Gryffindor, reckless, naïve to the consequences."

"You're the only one who doesn't look at me like I'm Voldemort Incarnate," it was all Vergil wanted to say, it was all he needed to say.

Vergil finished brewing the potion under Snape's strict surveillance; unlike in class he was far stricter and much bigger of a perfectionist. Giving Vergil critiques for everything, from the way he held equipment to the tiniest details like the angle from which he crushed or cut the ingredients.

"Barely passable Leonidas, you'll have to put more effort into it," Snape said once the potion was done. Yet Vergil smirked, this was exactly the kind of motivation he needed.

 _ **~X~**_

Later that night Vergil found himself in the common room looking at the instructions on how to transfigure a match into a needle for what felt like hundredth time as if this time something would just click.

"Hey Vergil, what's up?" Gemma sat down on the sofa next to him and looked over his shoulder at the book he was reading.

"My blood pressure," Vergil grumbled as he motioned at the match McGonagall gave them.

Gemma reached out for her wand and effortlessly transfigured the match "Just concentrate, make sure you envision it, feel it change shape. You need focus, didn't Professor McGonagall teach you that?"

Vergil looked at the feather as it came down back to the table. "She did. I'm just having trouble imagining match changing into a needle. If I can envision it, I can do it, or at least that's what I think."

"Try this then. Imagine a match on one side and a needle on the other side. Close your eyes. That's right, now merge them together and leave only a needle, now give it a try," Gemma explained.

Vergil nodded and took a deep breath, he closed his eye, imagined what she just told him and touched the match with his wand. When he opened his eye the match was turned into a needle, a bit darker than it should be, but a needle nonetheless.

"Nicely done," Gemma complimented him and much to Vergil's annoyance ruffled his hair. The one-eyes glare made her laugh. "Keep it up kid and whatever you need to ask just find me and I'll do my best to help you."

He couldn't find it in himself to be annoyed with the older girl. "You too, you can count on me," Vergil replied.

"Sure Vergil," Gemma dismissed it, mostly due to his age and stood up. "See you later, go get some sleep."

 _ **~X~**_

A week passed mostly in getting used to the schedule, going through classes, doing homework and finding a way to balance rest and schoolwork. In Vergil's case there was also an additional potions class after the one he had on Friday.

When flying lessons were announced Vergil felt the need to double the dose of the dreamless sleep potion. For one simple reason: Draco Malfoy, with who came his chatterbox personality.

"I still can't believe the first years never get to be on the house Quidditch teams, it's a shame really. If only they let me I'd catch the Snitch in no time," he started yet another one of his boastings.

"You'd be a seeker?!" of course Parkinson had to fuel the flame of Malfoy's ego.

"Of course!" and so the story would begin and once again end with him narrowly escaping Muggle helicopters.

His only saving grace was the fact that Malfoy couldn't be in two places at the same time, so he'd tune a bit of his talk out and then walk away. As Snape did warn him, his eyes and overall appearance did make him suspicious enough, bringing more attention by punching Malfoy would give him more trouble than it was worth.

He still considered it though.

Vergil's thoughts wandered off to the potion Snape had him make for fifth time, still the same one, the cure for boils. Finally, finally, the man said they would proceed to the next potion, which was the cough potion. He also finally figured out the fact that no matter how well he made the potion Snape would only dare say 'Fine, _'_ Even if it was perfect. Which essentially meant that 'Barely passable,' meant 'Good,' in Snape language.

Flying lessons would start tomorrow and they'd be with Gryffindor students. He drank the dreamless sleep potion and lied down letting the sleep overcome him.

 _ **~X~**_

The morning of the first flying lesson Vergil walked into the Great Hall.

"-and so I zoomed around this large building-"

' _I am not going there,_ ' seeing as everyone in his year was immersed in Malfoy's story and he wasn't about to bother Gemma he turned around and made his way to the Gryffindor table. "Morning, Neville, do you mind if I sit here?"

Neville's jaw dropped slightly as he clumsily shifted to the side to free up some space. "O-Of course," just as timid as always.

"Thanks, relax though, it's just me," Vergil assured him and sat down. "Slytherin table is too loud right now. Although, it looks like you Gryffindors are nearly as loud, only without Malfoy."

Neville nodded and looked at his plate. "I'm nervous about flying lesson, gran never let me near a broomstick."

"I've never done it before either, none of the muggleborns did either. Just stay calm and be confident," Vergil tried to advise him, though he really couldn't find the right words. Of all the problems he ever had being as nervous as Neville wasn't on the list.

"I'm going to fall off, aren't I?" Neville mumbled, looking at Vergil's red eye.

"As long as you get up it's fine if you fall, trust me," thinking back on his time in Thanatos the only thing that kept him alive was persistence. Forget natural abilities, forget talent or power, when you first start you need to push through those first times. First training, first battle, first use of soul power, first time on the front lines. It gets easier with time, for most things.

Granger noticed him there and moved closer. "Hi," for the first time since Vergil met her she sounded nervous. Granted he only spoke with her for a couple of times, but still, this wasn't something he expected.

"Hey Granger, you look a bit pale," Vergil noticed the book she was clutching like a lifeline.

"I'm trying to learn how to fly a broom; I think I get it, the theory behind it at the very least," Granger flipped through the pages. "Like the way quidditch players use their weight to change direction quicker and in a more stable way."

Vergil raised an eyebrow, inwardly cursing the bandages. "Even I could have told you that, and I'm not exactly broom expert."

Granger huffed and was about to say something else when owls flew in. One of the school owls landed in front of her with a letter. As most of the students got letters Vergil turned his attention to the food. He never got any and he never would, there was no one that could send him letters. A beak pecked his finger causing him to look at the owl in front of him. It held a small envelope much to his surprise and it was addressed to him.

"Thanks," he reached out and took the letter, still surprised by the fact that he actually got one.

 _Good luck on the flying lesson. Don't get into trouble and just stay confident._

 _-Gemma_

Vergil turned around and looked at the Slytherin prefect, even from where he sat he could see her giving him a thumbs up. Returning the gesture Vergil tucked the letter into his robes.

"It's a Remembrall!" Neville suddenly exclaimed as he showed a glass ball. "Gran know I forget things," when he saw a puzzled look on Vergil's face he proceeded to further explain. "This tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red – oh," the Remembrall began glowing red. "You've forgotten something."

Malfoy was passing by the Gryffindor table, perhaps making his way to the doors, perhaps just looking for a fight but as he reached out for the Remembrall Vergil grabbed his wrist.

"Shouldn't you ask first?" Vergil asked, he was tired of Malfoy's entitled-to-everything attitude.

Malfoy looked surprised at the defiance from his own housemate and Potter and Weasley were up on their feet ready, eager even, for a fight.

"What are you doing here Leonidas, and with this idiot of all people," Malfoy demanded now that Crabbe and Goyle were behind him.

"Sitting, it's what most people do around here," Vergil remarked, calm despite grunts from the two boys behind Malfoy.

Malfoy frowned. "Really smart, aren't you Leonidas?"

Vergil smirked, letting go of Malfoy's wrist. "Thanks, but I'm actually quite average. Do us all a favor and leave before teachers notice."

"Or prefects. Both of you calm down before I resort to detention," Gemma walked up to them, that certainly got Malfoy and his friends to back away, Vergil on the other hand just looked at her. "Come with me Vergil."

"Sure," Vergil jumped to his feet and followed Gemma. She led him outside and began walking in the direction of the library.

"You shouldn't have done that," she scolded him as they took seats in the library, in corner away from eyes and ears of other students. "Go ahead and form bonds with other houses, it's your decision. Go ahead and fight with other Slytherins, if you really must, but don't do it without a good reason and especially not someplace where everyone can see it. We are on our own as it is, inhouse fighting would only make things worse."

Vergil opened his mouth to speak but then closed it. For a bit he contemplated on what to say. "I'll think about it, but no promises."

"That's all I'm asking of you, to think," Gemma smiled at him.

"Why are you doing all of this? Helping me, advising me, hell even sending me a letter – you didn't need to do any of that," Vergil had to ask as he stood up, he was ready to leave Gemma to her studying, but he needed to ask this.

Gemma looked him in the eye before shrugging. "Felt like it, there's really no reason."

Vergil didn't exactly buy it, but he decided not to push it. "I'll see you later."

 _ **~X~**_

The flying lessons were held on a field, where they had enough space to practice using the brooms.

At the set time when both houses finally arrived Madam Hooch, a woman with short gray hair and yellow eyes arrived as well. For a moment Vergil's eye widened, perhaps in hopes of survivors, but then two thoughts came to mind, she clearly wasn't one, given the time it happened and those were human eyes. Strangely colored eyes, but human eyes nonetheless.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she immediately barked at them. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up," she waited just a bit for the students to do so and stood at the front. "Stick out your right hand over your broom and say 'Up!"'

"UP!" everyone shouted with varying confidence in their voices.

The broom jumped into Vergil's hand right away and he looked at it, so far this wasn't hard.

Once everyone managed to do it Hooch proceeded to show them how to mount the brooms without sliding off, then she walked up and down the rows to correct their grips.

"Good," She simply commented when she looked at him.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," she instructed. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle, three, two-"

And obviously something had to go wrong. Neville, as nervous as he was, pushed off before the whistle touched Hooch's lips.

"Come back, boy!" she yelled at Neville who kept rising straight up.

"Shouldn't you go after him, it's clear he's too frightened," Vergil pointed out but gritted his teeth when she just shot him a glare.

Neville was already twenty feet up in the air, the telltale signs of him slowly slipping sideway any moment now were starting to get clear.

"Damn it all!" Vergil hissed and pushed off into the air after Neville.

"What are you doing?! Come down this instant!" he heard the woman, no doubt about it. He just ignored her order. He ignored the gasps from beneath him, the wind that had more power up here than it did on the ground, all he needed to do was help Neville get down.

"Easy now, just give me your hand." Vergil offered his hand to Neville the moment he reached the boy.

But it was already too late for any of that, Neville slipped off and remained in the air.

"V-Vergil," Neville stuttered as he looked back and saw Vergil barely holding on to him and pulling him up a bit.

They heard the students gasping on the ground, both Slytherin and Gryffindor. Vergil felt his arm shaking as he tried his best to keep holding Neville. His body tensed, the strain on his muscles intensified with each passing second.

Vergil grunted. "We're going down, no idea how softly," and they did go down, slowly the seconds passed; counting off the time Vergil had to get this done. With every passing second he was one step closer to running out of strength and slipping himself. It looked good for about fifteen feet but then the lack of experience and the weight of the boy pushed him over the limit. He was out of strength and he slipped causing both of them to fall to the ground. "That went well enough," Vergil muttered as he watched the broom Neville was previously on flying further away.

Hooch bent over them and Vergil glared at her.

"Aren't you supposed to be able to prevent something like this, master broom handler," Vergil snarled. The woman could see the subtle, cold fury in his eye.

Even if she did seem a bit worried for them when she first looked at them on the ground he couldn't overlook her incompetence.

"How dare you," she hissed at him, the golden eyes clashed with the blood red eye and if the looks could kill they'd both be dead.

"Yeah, how dare I, the first-year student, call you, the professor, out on your incompetence," Vergil wasn't backing down. He clenched his fists, clutching at some grass in the process.

Other students remained silent, fearful of the professor's wrath. Any further argument was cut off by Neville softly whimpering by them, he got injured due to the fall. He sprained his wrist to be precise.

Hooch immediately turned to check him. "Sprained wrist," she muttered once she confirmed her suspicions. "Come on, boy, it's all right, up you go," she helped Neville up and turned to the rest of the class. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are, or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear," finally she turned to Vergil. "Twenty points from Slytherin and go see your Head of the house."

"Right away," Vergil jumped to his feet and left the field, not paying any attention to the whispers or the way a couple of students looked at him.

Five minutes later, even without the adrenaline pumping in his blood, he fearlessly knocked on Snape's doors.

"Yes," the short answer was enough for him to get in.

"I lost twenty points in the flying lessons," Vergil said the moment he stepped in, there was no need to drag this out.

Snape looked up from the homework he was reading and the black eyes fixated on Vergil's red one. "Mind explaining yourself."

"I called Hooch incompetent," Vergil kept the eye contact, looking away now would be sign of weakness, regret, at least to him, at least to devils. He would face the consequences head on.

Snape lacked any expression as he studied the boy. "Leonidas, I had the impression that you had, more, control, over yourself. I believe you had proved me wrong," alright, that even tone stung way more than Vergil guessed it would.

He kept his eye on Snape but didn't reply, he ignored the heavy feeling weighing over his heart.

"As your punishment you are to – clean broom cabinet and all of the flying equipment," Snape knew he had to put some discipline into the boy's mind, otherwise he'd just get into more troubles like this.

"Yes, Professor," Vergil replied, finally lowering his gaze and leaving the room.

 _ **~X~**_

When Vergil came back to the common room that night he was greeted by Zabini.

"Guess what Draco did to Potter? He's going to get him expelled," Zabini told him, he didn't sound excited or worried, just passive, like he didn't care.

And neither did Vergil, he didn't even understand why Zabini was telling him this. "I should care because?"

As if on que Malfoy walked up to them. "I challenged him to a wizarding duel. Of course, I'm not going, I'm not mental. But I tipped off Filch and he'll find Potter and Weasley," he boasted, quite obviously pleased with his little ploy to get Potter expelled.

Vergil narrowed his eye. "And here I thought you had some semblance of honor."

Draco seemed infuriated by the accusation. "Of course you wouldn't understand, you hang out with the wrong sort as well."

"And what's the right sort? Entitled brats like you?" Vergil barked, he just wanted this day to end, his patience was growing thinner and thinner with every moment.

"Enough you two, we shouldn't fight," Greengrass scolded them before she quickly stepped in between two boys and soon enough most of their year was at the entrance. Crabbe and Goyle as well as Parkinson behind Malfoy, Bulstrode and Zabini watching from the side while Davis joined Greengrass. The only one absent from the near distance was Nott.

"Tell that to the 'No-idea-who-I-am' idiot," Malfoy snarled, he looked like he was somewhere between running away and keeping this up. The only thing that kept him stuck there was the need to preserve his reputation, that and Crabbe and Goyle behind him while Vergil was alone most certainly helped.

Greengrass sighed, figuring out that she couldn't reason with Malfoy with the way he was now. "Vergil could you just leave?"

Vergil sighed and relented, this wasn't a fight he wanted to have right now. "Fine," even as tense as he was his steps barely made a sound as he made his way upstairs. He was about to down the potion when the doors opened.

"Either give up on your fascination with defending others and stick with our house or be invisible. There's no other way to do this, especially with that potion you keep drinking," Nott warned him.

Vergil turned around, potion still in hand, and saw Nott leaning against the wall. "I do things my way," with that being said he downed the potion. As it began kicking in he changed into his sort of pajamas, actually a white T-shirt and black sweat pants and got into the bed.

When he did wake up he had less than twenty minutes to get to the Potions. He lazily put his clothes on and prepared what he needed, leaving him with about ten minutes to get to the classroom. If it was any other class he'd most likely skip out on it.

"Um, Vergil," the moment he stepped into the classroom he was greeted by Neville.

"Hey, how's the wrist?" Vergil asked, irritation from last night mostly gone by now.

"F-Fine. Thank you, for yesterday. I'm sorry I got you into trouble," Neville apologized, the boy looked at his feet, perhaps afraid to look the Slytherin in the eye.

"Don't worry about it," Vergil dismissed it as nothing worth talking about and sat down. Something about his tone, the even, yet just slightly soft made Neville look at him. "Snape's about to come in, maybe you should go back to your seat," Vergil warned the boy. It's not that Vergil didn't want to talk to him, he just didn't want to get Neville tangled up in whatever was being cooked down in the dungeons.

Neville was almost certain that he heard him wrong, that he just thought Vergil's voice softened up a bit a few moments before the warning. There was no way it would happen, right? He quickly nodded. "Right… Thanks again," Neville said timidly and went to his seat.

Vergil let out a barely audible sigh just before Snape walked in.

 _ **~X~**_

The following two weeks were… exhausting. On a more psychological level. Disrespecting a teacher came at a price and the wary eyes of a few professors became more apparent to him.

The Voldemort Incarnate… On classes where he just wrote down and did the things they demanded with a half-assed effort. The professors looking at him every now and then, almost expecting him to morph into the Dark Lord, because not only did he disrespect one of them, he also showed he was capable of flying down, mostly, while holding another student.

Harry Potter got awarded for being talented with the broom and it was fine if it was him, or almost anyone else.

But he had that red eye with slit shaped pupil, the eye similar to that of Voldemort.

And apart from brief chats with Gemma he was on his own. He kept to himself for the time being, remained determined to keep Neville away. If there was going to be any trouble soon, he'd deal with it on his own. This also meant he cut off any attempts at talking with Granger or anyone else outside of Slytherin. It was starting to get under his skin, the lack of normal contact excluding what he had with Snape and partly with Gemma.

Looking down at his palm he realized his grip was no longer as firm as it used to be. He got weaker since he got here, mostly due to lack of any training. Yet he didn't really care, it's not like it mattered anymore. The reason for him to keep the discipline and mindset prior to all this was gone. Everything was gone, all he had now was a distant potions master and a school in which he felt he didn't belong, oh and a Voldemort Incarnate unspoken title that kind of hung in the air above him… Not much for an eleven-year-old.

If he started thinking about it he'd lose what little will he had left. He needed a distraction. While he was brewing the potion tomorrow afternoon Snape noticed he put even more effort than usually.

 _ **~X~**_

As he had decided Vergil found a way to cope with time, he kept concentrating all of his free time on potions. Writing down the process, trying to figure out more about the potions he was making so far, learning about new ones and going to library to borrow the material to read, plus he decided to get a bit more knowledgeable about the world he was living in.

He just returned the book he borrowed to the library when someone came up behind him.

"Leonidas?" he turned around and saw none other than Granger, frankly this was the last thing he wanted to happen. He was avoiding her, along with everyone else, like a plague after all.

"What is it Granger?" he still asked.

"Not much, but would you like to study potions together?" she asked, not even slightly because she needed any help, in fact she was doing perfectly fine in the class. It was more of a wish for some kind of contact.

Taking a deep breath and mostly for the sake of his sanity he nodded. "Sure," he let her pick a table, a more isolated one, near the corner. They sat down and pulled out their respective books on potions.

About an hour later of silently going through what they learnt on their previous class Vergil finally broke the silence.

"Don't you have any Gryffindor to study with?" as soon as he asked that he felt a bit… stupid. She obviously didn't, he did catch glimpses of her here and there, not too often, but whenever he did, she was alone.

She remained silent for a few moments. "No, not really," she admitted. "You?"

"Same thing," Vergil replied.

"Why are you avoiding me then? It looked like you wanted to be friends before the flying lessons," she sounded a bit defeated, like a part of her thought she was the one that drove him away.

"I… just wanted to focus on some things. I didn't want it to look like I'm avoiding you," he made an excuse and he knew that, but he had to make something up.

Granger looked at him and then back to her book, she closed it and stood up. "Thank you. Maybe we can do this again? I mean if you aren't avoiding me."

It wasn't the smartest thing to do, but he figured no one would pay much attention to them in the library. "Same time tomorrow than?"

Granger smiled. "Same time tomorrow."

 _ **~X~**_

The twenty third of October was a rather rainy day, the storm raged near the castle and Vergil felt calm because of it, much calmer than he usually was. The rumble of thunder brought him peace as he brew the antidote to common poisons on yet another one of extra potion classes Snape was giving him. He felt at ease, mostly due to the habit he and Granger got into that involved studying together twice a week. It was a welcome contact.

"Congratulations," Snape suddenly said making Vergil look at him.

"Huh?" his mind tried to come up with intelligent response while trying to figure out what Snape was congratulating him for. Needless to say he failed at both.

"You turned twelve today, if I'm not mistaken," Snape explained obviously not used to this kind of stuff.

' _That's one hell of an awkward happy birthday,_ ' Vergil blinked a few times and finally got over the initial surprise. "Uh, yeah, I did, thanks."

Snape just walked up to him and gave him two rolls of parchment, written by his own hand. "You're going to get a better understanding of the potions you are, obliged to this year, as well as, the two for which I just gave you the details on," Snape explained and Vergil's eyes widened, not so much when he saw that the first one would be burn-healing paste but for the second one, the dreamless sleep potion…

"Didn't you say it's a bit advanced for me?" Vergil questioned, though he couldn't hide the eagerness to start.

"I had assumed, Leonidas, that you wanted to prove me wrong. If you lack the ambition to do it then-"

"I'll do it," Vergil quickly cut him off and grinned sheepishly at him. "Thanks," there was nothing behind that grin, just pure happy grin, fitting of a twelve-year-old, it was a complete contrast to his usual demeanor, especially over the last month or so.

Snape was left unsure of how to respond to this thus he did what he knew he could. "Get to analyzing the burn-healing paste, now."

"Yes sir!" Vergil gave him a small salute and went on to his place in the classroom to study the text given to him.

 _ **~X~**_

That night Vergil sat on his bed, reading the text ton the dreamless sleep potion. And then the doors abruptly slammed open.

"Vergil come with me, now!" Greengrass exclaimed, she looked out of breath, almost as if she ran to the room.

"What's going on?" Vergil got up to his feet.

"It's Draco, he may have crossed the line with some older students," Greengrass explained, it was clear in her eyes that she thought Vergil wouldn't even care.

He didn't, not really. But he'd be damned if he'd miss this. If it wasn't anything serious he would get a laugh out of it, if it got serious he might interfere or drag Malfoy away. Regardless missing this would be counterproductive. "Come on then."

* * *

 _ **And that's it. I know it's been a really long time since I updated and I can't tell you how sorry I am. I know it's just an excuse but life really got in the way, between working and studying I hardly had any time to sit down and write anything.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **Falcodude – Thank you, judging by how much time passed chances are most people don't remember much of the previous chapter. Slytherin felt like the right choice and the one with most potential, as I'm trying to show here.**_

 _ **Badger10 – Thank you, oh a couple times a month was way off. Too much off. Some things will change, but as you see in this chapter, I'm taking a different approach this time around.**_

 _ **Guest – Thank you.**_

 _ **Brit – Thanks. Well this took quite some time and I'm not sure how good of an art it is.**_

 _ **Ranger McAleer – Thanks. As evident by this chapter I am focusing more on Vergil and Hermione, as well as a few other relationships.**_

 _ **Doubleblade2127 – Thank you. I will take my time with the relationships, no need to rush that part.**_

 _ **C.S. Skywalker – Hey there, good to see you here as well. Well I can really shift things around in Slytherin, flesh out some other characters, build other plotlines and tie it together with the main story without being contained by Gryffindor. Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed the previous chapter, hopefully this one, though late, meets the expectations.**_

 _ **muhamed3871 – Sorry it took so long, but here's the chapter.**_

 _ **Guest – This really wasn't soon, but here it is. We'll get to the romance.**_

 _ **Guest – With the way I'm going come back in a few decades to find the story still on the fifth, sixth if we're being optimistic, book. Jokes aside, I do hope to pick up the pace. Also, thanks for the compliment.**_


	3. Troubles With Words

_**Chapter 3 – Troubles With Words**_

* * *

Not even five minutes prior to Daphne going to get Vergil Draco was having a good night, a really good night. His parents had sent him sweets, he had the attention of his classmates and the bitterness of Potter's success was gone for the time being. Potter would just end up embarrassing himself anyway.

Suddenly his chocolate box flipped through the air and the sweets fell all over the floor. Draco quickly looked around trying to find the one responsible and he did find him, David Travers, a fourth year smirked on the sofa nearby.

"Did that upset you? I'm sure it didn't nearly as much as seeing you stuff your face every night annoyed me," David replied to the unspoken question etched on Draco's anger filled face.

Draco stood up ignoring the way Daphne pulled at his sleeve.

"Sit down, just let it go Draco," she advised but he couldn't listen.

"Annoyed? Maybe you're just jealous," Draco taunted without thinking things through. Still he was fairly sure David wouldn't do anything; not only were they in a common room but they were also surrounded by bunch of students that could confirm who started it.

David stood up, quickly followed by two other students. "Jealous? Why should I be jealous of you?" there was a hint of anger, that much was obvious, but aside from that it seemed things wouldn't escalate further if only Draco backed down.

Not really knowing what to use against David he went after one thing he concluded from all those times David just lazed around in the common room. "And what have you accomplished, huh? How many house points did you get, or should I say lose?"

Almost instantly David took out his wand and muttered some spell that made a couple of books sprawled on the table fly right next to Draco's head and hit the sofa Draco sat on before.

"What did you say?" David demanded.

"I-I-" Draco stuttered, still shaken up by the books that flew by him.

"Hm? What was that Malfoy?" David mocked, threw his arms up in the air and then pointed at Draco. "Look at him, he's about to faint!" he laughed.

Out of the corner of his eye Draco noticed Daphne running up the stairs to the dormitories. She pretty much abandoned him, just like others did the moment David was backed up by his stupid looking friends Lucian Bole and Peregrine Derrick. For just a moment Draco thought this was what he looked like with Crabbe and Goyle.

"Someone that can't even live up to his own challenge doesn't have the right to speak of earning points," David spat finally getting serious again.

Draco's face turned red from embarrassment. "What?"

David snorted. "You brag too much, about how you challenged Potter and then set him up to get caught. You're all bark and no bite," he sounded disgusted by what Draco had done. "People like you, with no backbone, should just stick to being a part of group, a nobody really."

"My father will hear about this, you hear me David?!" Draco barked, trying to make it look like he had control over the situation. Hoping that his father's name would get him out of the situation he got himself in.

David seemed even angrier than before. "Your father? The same man that let my father rot in Azkaban?! The same man responsible for-" whatever he was going to say he just halted, recomposed himself somewhat and continued. "How dare you even mention that coward?!"

Draco was angry, really angry and found himself in a situation where he was even more vulnerable than back when Vergil defied him. This time the student was much older, a fourth-year. Not even Crabbe and Goyle wanted to back him up this time, smart enough to realize that this wasn't something they should get involved in. Still, he couldn't let that insult be the last thing this ended on especially now that the crowd was gathering to watch.

"How dare you speak of my father like that?" Draco spat, his voice shaking just a bit.

"Come on then, try to fight me if you're so offended by the truth," David challenged him and Draco knew that the moment he reached out for the wand he'd likely get cursed. But it was a challenge in front of so many students. Smart thing would be to back away, but if his father heard about this he'd never live up to the expectations.

" **Verdimillious** ," a shot of green sparks flew right by David and dissipated, but it was enough to get their attention.

The students around were surprised, especially the ones knowing about the fight that happened a few weeks ago. None were as surprised as Draco though, his jaw dropped and he blinked a few times. "Leonidas?!" he exclaimed looking like Vergil was the last person he expected to see.

Vergil looked at him for a short moment before turning his attention back at David who was stomping over to him with Bole and Derrick right behind him.

"What do you think you're doing brat?!" David roared and much to Draco's surprise Vergil didn't even flinch.

The small yelp from behind Vergil made Draco realize that Daphne was the one that went to get Vergil.

"What does it look like Travers? Pick someone your own size to mess with," Vergil didn't even blink when David pulled out his wand and pointed it at him.

"You then?" David taunted, going for a different approach as he motioned Bole and Derrick to come a bit closer.

"The show's over Travers, back off," Vergil was still just as calm, just as confident and Draco couldn't understand what made him think he could stand up to David.

"What are you going to do if I don't, eh kid?" David barked, still furious over everything that was going on.

Much to Draco's surprise Vergil smirked. "Would you be asking that without your bodyguards?

David bared his teeth, probably a step away from getting into a fight.

"What is going on here?" everything went silent instantly when Snape's question pretty much shook the entire common room. As usually he wasn't loud, but his presence alone was enough to disperse any and all will to argue. "It appears we have some – conflicts within the house. Such behavior will not be – tolerated. Mr. Travers, Mr. Leonidas, detention for the next week."

No one spoke a single word as they waited there.

"What are you standing there for? Off to beds," Snape ordered and almost as one the Slytherins stumbled to their dormitories, Draco and Vergil included.

Draco pretty much buried his face in his pillow, still affected by everything that just happened. "Why did you get involved?" he finally found his voice again.

"As much as I'd like that I'm not your enemy Malfoy. I'm not going to stand by if you're in trouble," Vergil replied.

Draco quickly sat up, looking at Vergil. "But we had that fight."

Vergil looked at him, the red eye wasn't nearly as unnerving as it initially was now that Draco got used to seeing it. "Yes, because you were being irritating. Don't take this the wrong way, I don't care, I just have my own rules," it was quite obvious Vergil didn't want to talk anymore as he downed the potion he drank every night and pulled the curtains so that Draco could no longer see him.

"How about we try again?" Draco asked about two minutes later.

Vergil groaned, sounding irritated. "Tomorrow, maybe. Now let me sleep."

 _ **~X~**_

Gemma Farley was rarely furious, but once she was told about what happened last night with Vergil and David furious was exactly what she was. "That brainless brat, picking a fight with someone his age is one thing, but picking a fight with someone older," she was fuming and if there was one thing Slytherins knew it was to clear the path to whatever, or whoever, made Gemma Farley angry.

And there he was, sitting like nothing happened, like he didn't make anyone angry at him, like nothing could possibly happen to him. Gemma nearly shouted at him right then and there but there was no need to make another scene, so she opted for walking over to him. As she approached the boy she halted. He wasn't reading his potions book like she thought he was, he wasn't looking at anything, just staring into nothing in particular with the same look she saw him wearing whenever he thought no one was watching. She wasn't even sure he realized the somber, shattered look in his red eye.

His posture was the same as always as well, slumped shoulders, hands hanging between his knees, hunched forward, barely moving aside from breathing. Gemma swallowed hard, her thoughts going back to one and only time she heard Vergil speak of his life before Hogwarts. A war orphan, looking at him now she felt anger disappearing, it made sense, his reckless behavior; he likely didn't know how to deal with his emotions, thus he sought out fights.

Finally, after so many times she saw him like that and thought his classmates would eventually pick him up, thinking that she shouldn't get involved because she didn't know what to do, she walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. The reaction was instantaneous, Vergil jumped to his feet and turned around. He didn't reach for the wand and instead raised his fists, the moment he realized it was just her he relaxed but the confusion in his eye was more than apparent.

"Can I sit with you?" she asked, making sure he knew he could refuse if he felt the need to do so.

Vergil recovered from his brief surprise and nodded. "Go ahead," he sat back down and she sat down next to him.

Gemma noticed how his posture changed pretty much immediately, he straightened his back, going as far as leaning into the sofa. "Is something bothering you?" she chose to be straight to the point, though her voice wavered just a bit.

Immediately Vergil crossed his arms over his chest, hid his neck and narrowed his eye. "What do you mean?" he didn't deny it, but he didn't directly confirm it either.

Carefully she turned towards him, sitting with her knees pointed in his general direction. "I've noticed the way you look every now and then. When no one else cares enough to notice. Vergil you look alone so I want you to know you can talk to me."

If she wanted to relax him she probably did the opposite as Vergil backed further into the sofa; for the first time she saw him tense to the point of seeing some muscles clearly visible on his half-exposed forearms. "There's nothing I want to talk about," his tone was low, but still piercing, almost like a subdued thunder.

No. Vergil wasn't the one to talk, he was the one to act. She realized that the moment he did everything he could to lighten the mood back when they met on the train. "Then just come here," she didn't really think it through, but how dangerous could it really be to do this to a boy that was eleven, maybe twelve since she didn't know when his birthday was yet. Granted this _was_ the boy that felt confident enough to stand up to three fourth year students while they had their wands. Still, throwing caution to the wind Gemma reached around him and pulled him into a hug.

"W-What are you- What do you think you're doing?!" Vergil hissed, actually stuttered and sounded embarrassed for this first time since Gemma met him.

"Vergil, you're not alone," at once he relaxed, almost as if that simple sentence diffused all the tension inside of him. He let out a shaky breath and leaned his forehead against her shoulder. Instead of wrapping his arms, or at least an arm, around her he simply brought his right hand up and placed it above her elbow.

Still, much to Gemma's brief amusement he pulled away barely ten seconds later, pouting slightly at the unexpected physical contact.

"Someone isn't into hugs," she teased and ruffled his hair, again, it turned into a habit.

He glared at her hand, still resting on top of his head. "Why do you keep doing that?"

Gemma grinned. "It's softer than it looks," and when he just stared at her blankly she burst out laughing. "Come on Vergil, you know it doesn't bother you."

"Whatever you say Gemma," he muttered, huffing and looking away.

The two sat there for a few minutes before Draco, followed by some of Vergil's other classmates came in and went towards them. "Vergil. Here, try these," Draco offered Vergil a box of sweets and sat down to Vergil's right, since Gemma was sitting on the other side. "Oh, hello Gemma," he greeted when he realized Gemma was actually sitting with Vergil.

"Hey Draco," Gemma offered him a brief smile and observed the puzzled look on Vergil's face. Eventually Vergil did pick up on of the sweets and bit into it.

"Good right? My parents sent them to me," Gemma could see the smug grin on Draco's face as he bragged. Some things don't change overnight and Vergil seemed to realize that.

"I guess. I'm not that keen on sweets," Vergil admitted.

"I never told you, but you sure put Hooch in her place. What does she know anyway, I've been taught by the best of the best how to fly," Malfoy boasted but Gemma focused on the first part.

"What did you do?" she asked.

Vergil's eye widened and he quickly jumped to his feet. "I'm off. Extra potions," before she could do anything to stop him he was already out. And he didn't even have extra potions that day!

"Vergil!" Gemma growled and Draco was smart enough to attempt a silent escape. Unfortunately, Gemma grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "Tell me, Draco, what exactly did our fellow Slytherin do?"

"Uh… I guess I could do that."

 _ **~X~**_

About a week later, on Halloween, Vergil was on his way to his herbology class. Ever since his little exchange with Gemma he felt better, like he could tackle any problem. In the hindsight he should have specified which problems he was referring to, because the one he was supposed to tackle wasn't even close to his list of expertise.

As he was making his way to the class he saw Granger running down the hall which was beyond strange. "Granger!" he called after her and surprisingly she stopped. As he caught up with her he realized she was wiping her face. "What's going on? Why are you running?"

Granger took a deep breath and turned around, she looked like she was about to cry and he was clutching on her beloved book like it was her lifeline.

"Can I ask you something?" she whispered, her voice cracking, she sounded like she has had enough, like she was at her limit.

Normally Vergil would remark that she already did ask him a question, this time however he simply nodded. "Of course you can."

What she asked completely caught him off guard. "Are we friends?"

"Friends? Uh… sort of, we're not friends friends, but we're more than not friends," he wasn't even sure what he just said. Granger was closest to being his friend out of everyone in his year, but that didn't mean they were friends just yet. "I guess we're getting there."

Apparently, that's not the answer Granger wanted, or was hoping for because a tear slid down her cheek quickly followed by another. "You can't stand me either, can you? That's why we're just hanging out in the library, right? And you still call me Granger," she didn't wait for a response, instead she ran off in tears.

Vergil stood there, flabbergasted by what she just said. "What the- How do you even- Hermione wait!" he didn't even realize he had called her by her name, he ran after her but when he turned around the corner she was nowhere to be found. As he helplessly tried to figure out where she went a single thought came to his mind. "I made a terrible mistake," he berated himself and slumped against the wall.

"How come?" well that was a voice he hadn't heard in a while, turning around he saw the same old man that said he would watch him on the portrait next to him.

Vergil glared at the portrait. "None of your business."

Needless to say, the rest of his day was horrible, he kept trying to locate Granger and the divided attention made him lose focus on the classes he had for the rest of the day. Not even the feast interested him as Granger wasn't there. He pretty much glared at the steak in front of him, it felt like a storm was raging in his mind; it's been a long time since he felt like he did something he would come to regret.

"You look awfully distracted," Malfoy pointed out making him groan, Malfoy was absolutely the last person he wanted to talk to.

"I swear, if you try to start a conversation I'll punch you. To hell with consequences. Read the air, I don't want to talk right now," Vergil pretty much growled sending a clear massage to Malfoy. Luckily Malfoy just huffed and turned back to his dinner.

Quirrell came sprinting into the hall with clear picture of terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped. "Troll, in the dungeons, thought you – ought to know," he then proceeded to faint.

Uproar followed his announcement and it took some firecrackers from Dumbledore himself to bring silence into the hall. "Prefects, lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

As Slytherin students were being led to their dormitory Vergil saw Snape going in a different direction. By now he knew the man was not the one to waste time, or run. He shifted a bit to the side and slowed down his pace to let the students pass him before swiftly slipping into the shadows, leaning against the wall and letting the darkness cover his presence.

Following Snape would be pointless, but his guts was telling him he should get involved, thus he decided to wait for the man to come back.

About half an hour later Vergil still stood outside Snape's office waiting for the man to come back. When he saw the man his eye widened slightly and for the first time in the last months he felt a bit of worry crawling into him.

"Leonidas. What are you doing here?" Snape asked the moment he noticed his student.

Yet all Vergil looked at was the wounded leg. "I doubt a troll can make that kind of wound," he pointed out, sounding way calmer than he actually was. When Snape didn't honor him with any answer he continued talking. "How did you get injured like that?" the question was direct, even without Vergil motioning at the wound.

"I believe you have - no right to question me, Leonidas. And you have disobeyed Headmaster's orders by, _not_ , being in your common room," Snape quite obviously didn't want to be interrogated by a child, especially not on something like his wounds.

"I can live with that," Vergil replied the flames illuminating the corridor flickered, but even in the dim light he still had a perfectly good sight.

"Go back to your room," Snape ordered, but he made a mistake, his adrenaline was no longer pushing him and the pain was barely bearable. Snape grimaced briefly as he tried to take a step.

"And leave you like that?" Vergil pushed himself from the wall and went to support the potions master. "I'm a half devil, not a heartless monster," he sighed when he felt like Snape would protest. "Think of it this way, the sooner you let me help you get into the room the sooner I'll head to mine," Vergil said when Snape looked like he'd argue with him.

Vergil opened the doors and helped the man walk in. Snape slumped down on his chair as Vergil searched for anything to bandage the wound with.

"Go to your room." Snape somehow made the bandages fly to him as he lifted the robes up.

Vergil looked at the wound, at the blood that was gushing out of it. It was a really deep wound, the flesh was mangled, a bloody mess…

Yet he wasn't disgusted.

"What did I tell you?" Snape barked impatiently. This was the last thing he needed, a child pitying him.

"Let me," Vergil knelt on one knee and brought his hand close to the wound. Before Snape could even say anything a sound of crackling made him turn his attention completely to Vergil's hand.

Electricity… The small electric blue sparks.

They surged around Vergil's hand and slowly travelled to Snape's wound.

"I can nullify the voltage enough for it to just numb the leg," Vergil explained. "I've been taught to use them, darkness and lightning and I spent five years learning how to do so," he made a small pause. "A while back a war broke out, I've seen wounds like this and wounds that were worse than this," he muttered. Because that's how it was, once you passed the exams you were a soldier. As one you had to be willing and able to fight if war engulfed the world. You had to fight, you had to make sure you weren't a burden to those stronger than you, and you had to take control when you were the strong one.

 _ **~X~**_

If there was only one thing Severus Snape didn't believe he would ever have to do than it was relying on an eleven years old half-devil to numb a wound he got from a three headed dog. Or generally rely on an eleven years old to help him.

Much to his despise that was exactly what happened. Vergil was currently bandaging the wound; he did so in a surprisingly gentle way, careful not to cause any unnecessary pain to Severus. The fact that Vergil wasn't disgusted by the bloody and mangled leg was chilling even to Severus. He knew the boy was a half-devil that grew up in the Demon World, but to be this desensitized to blood and gore was disturbing. It made the nightmares that made the boy scream at the top of his lungs and forced him into drinking the dreamless sleep potion every night even more disturbing.

Yet it appeared as if Vergil was distracted, like he wasn't completely focused on what he was doing. "Leonidas," Severus spoke up and as expected Vergil looked him in the eyes. It was Vergil's habit, looking into the eyes of those he spoke to, a rather dangerous habit when talking to someone like Severus. That one brief moment was enough, it was even easier than Severus thought it would be. Whatever happened between Vergil and Miss Granger was still the focus of his thoughts.

"What is it?" in fact the boy was so distracted by those thoughts that he didn't even notice anything. Severus didn't know whether to be annoyed or amazed at how Vergil could be desensitized by a gruesome wound yet affected by perhaps a small fight he had with someone his age. He supposed there was some logic to it, after all it was likely a brand new experience to Vergil.

"Nothing," his response made Vergil shrug and simply go back to bandaging the wound.

Someone began knocking on the doors, at the worst possible moment. If anyone found out about his wound it would make things more difficult. Furthermore, explaining how and more importantly why Vergil was the one helping him would be almost impossible.

"Blasted thing. How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?" Severus noticed Vergil's attention shifting to the doors and immediately saw who was behind them. "Potter!" anger filled him as his face twisted into that of pure fury. He dropped his robes quickly to hide his leg, Potter was the absolutely last person that should see his wound.

"I just wondered if I could have my book back," Potter tried to explain.

"GET OUT! OUT!" Severus yelled at him furiously making the boy run without looking back.

"So that's how you look when you lose your cool. Not gonna lie, it's a bit terrifying," Vergil admitted as he lifted the robes back up went back to wrapping the bandages. He let a small spark travel up and down Severus' now mostly wrapped wound and let out a sigh.

Severus carefully studied the way sparks numbed the pain, Vergil was impressive in his own right, he had control over electricity and he could apply it without the danger, meaning that he could numb the area but not electrify it directly. Something that he had to admit he was thankful to; the numbness eased the pain and made walking somewhat easier.

"Anyway, when are you going to tell me what the 'blasted three-headed' thing is?" Vergil's question came out of blue. Severus cursed the fact that the boy chose to get curious right now, meaning that sooner or later he'd start asking questions again.

"Never," Severus replied leaving no space for arguments.

Vergil just let out a sigh making it clear to Severus that he had only delayed the further questioning.

 _ **~X~**_

It was the day of Harry's first quidditch match and Hermione was more than a little excited about it. For the first time she had true friends, someone to hang out with that didn't think she was weird.

No, not the first time, she had one friend before. Or at least she thought he was her friend until he pretty much said he wasn't. She should have guessed something like that would happen, after all Vergil, correction, Leonidas, didn't even call her by her name. Thinking about Ver- Leonidas made her huff as she found the book she was looking for - 'History of Wizarding World: A short guide'. Hermione took it and made her way to her regular table in the corner of the library. As she made her way there she saw white hair and at once knew it was Leonidas. ' _Just walk by him, he's focused on the book,'_ it was likely a book on potions so the chances of him actually paying attention to his surrounding were minimal.

It was all according to plan, he didn't seem to notice her and she was happy to just be on her way. The book he was reading was much bigger than the regular potion book he so obviously cherished and she slowed down. The moment she recognized the book she froze on spot.

' _History really isn't my thing, I don't think I'll enjoy it half as much as you did.'_

Yet here he was reading 'Hogwarts, A History'. "Vergil?" mentally she kicked herself for not calling him Leonidas instead.

He didn't turn around. "Hm? I'm reading, be quick," why was she even surprised he was so frustratingly uncaring. And then he straightened his back so quickly she nearly dropped her book. "Hermione?!" that was a new one, the first time he called her by her name. He turned around and blinked a few times. "Uh… hey," what, no regular remarks on this or that? That was also a new one.

"Mind if I sit next to you?" she didn't know what got into her, maybe she just wanted to have a friend back. Even if he didn't think they were friends.

"Never," he paused for a moment. "I mean I don't mind, you can sit wherever you'd like," he scratched the back of his head, and he wasn't keeping an eye contact.

Hermione sat down not entirely used to the idea of Vergil being even remotely nervous. "I remember you said history isn't your thing," she reminded him.

Vergil frowned, or at least she thought he did, with he bandages on it was sometimes hard to read his expression. "It isn't. But since I'm not going to hear what's so great about it from you, I figured I might as well read it."

Hermione's jaw dropped slightly. Thinking back Vergil did try to talk to her, on more than one occasion, ever since Halloween. She didn't want to hear it, not now, not when what he said hurt more than what Ron said, more than any teasing, at least she didn't consider those that teased and insulted her to be her friends.

"I was a jerk, I'm sorry for what I said," he apologized, he actually apologized.

Mostly on impulse Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck, ignoring the way he flinched when she touched his neck. "No more Granger?"

"Only Hermione, well, unless we get into a fight down the line," he had to cover all his bases, no matter what. Hermione chuckled at that and felt him relax a bit as she loosened her hold on his neck.

"And we'll hang out outside of library as well from now on, right?" she swallowed hard, waiting for his response.

"Whenever you want, wherever you want," they were both whispering by now, hoping not to get anyone's attention.

"Promise me Vergil."

"I promise. You have my word Hermione."

She let go of him and the one-sided hug ended, for some reason she was relieved, she felt warm.

"You've got to tell me what made you cry that day. I mean aside from me," Vergil was curious, that much was obvious from his voice and his entire attention was on Hermione. It seemed like he wouldn't be distracted for a moment even if a fight broke out right next to them.

Hermione wasn't entirely sure she should tell him what really happened. If things went her way all three of her friends could hang out with her at the same time and they would all get along. She didn't want him to get the wrong idea and misjudge Ron. "We had Charms that day and after the class ended Ron said I was a nightmare, that no one can stand me."

Much to Hermione's horror Vergil stood up abruptly. His fists were clenched and eye narrowed.

"I think it's about time I have a chat with some other Gryffindors," the moment he said that Hermione grabbed his hand and pulled him, or at least tried to pull him.

She looked him in the eye, pleading for him to just calm down. "Wait, please. Ron was just frustrated after class and he and Harry saved me from a troll. They're both my friends now, Vergil they're my best friends and I don't want you to fight with them."

"Are you sure? Because I can punch really hard," she was sure he was exaggerating, they were kids, they couldn't possibly punch, as Vergil put it, really hard.

"No, no, that's – just barbaric. Especially for no reason," luckily, he did sit down, though reluctantly. "You're not mad at me, are you?"

He smiled briefly, just a bit, but it was reassuring. "Of course I'm not. The offer still stands though."

Suddenly, a thought popped in Hermione's mind and she had to know the answer, after all Harry was being suspicious of Vergil. "Say Vergil, why were you bandaging Professor Snape's wound?"

He seemed surprised by the question and then realization hit him. "Potter told you, didn't he?" she nodded. "He got hurt on Halloween, he isn't telling me what happened though. But it was really bad."

"Why you though?" it was a question that was bugging her since Harry had told her and Ron about what he saw.

"I have experience with wounds; and he won't go to Pomfrey so there's that. I saw the wound that night and didn't want to leave until he allowed me to help him," it sounded logical, Hermione wasn't sure why Vergil would be so stubborn about helping Professor Snape but she didn't want to pry. Instead she just wanted to hang out with Vergil for a bit longer, they had roughly half an hour before breakfast and she wasn't about to leave just yet.

 _ **~X~**_

To say that Vergil was happy would be an understatement. He didn't think it would happen but he somehow got the second chance at friendship with one person his age he could consider his friend. And if life in Thanatos taught him one thing it was that the second chances rarely happened; screwing up in Thanatos more often than not meant you're done for. There was no going back.

So, when Hermione actually gave him a second chance he was pretty much shocked. Shocked enough to let her touch his neck. He reached out for the side of his neck, she didn't squeeze hard, in fact it was just a light touch, but it was his neck, his greatest weakness. One thing all devils made sure no one could touch.

"Troubles with your soul, halfling?"

Well if it wasn't one voice that could make him go from ecstatic to annoyed in a moment. "Can't you watch me without saying a word?" there was no way of hiding his irritation at the old man in the portrait that somehow knew exactly where to find him. It was getting creepy actually, randomly turning around and seeing that old guy watching him like a hawk in nearly every corner of the castle. At least bathrooms were safe, or at least that's what Vergil hoped.

"Where's fun in that?" the old man seemed to be in a good mood. "Oh, hey there Baron. Doesn't that red eye bring back memories?"

Vergil turned to his right and saw Bloody Baron floating towards them. The ghost just groaned, perhaps even more annoyed than Vergil.

"Ah well, I shall take my leave," the old guy moved through the different portraits, seemingly not bound by anything and more than willing to pass time by observing Vergil every now and then.

"Do not think badly of Merlin, though he can be annoying. He deeply loves Hogwarts and seeing a halfling unsettled him. He's just making sure you're not here to harm others."

Vergil's eye widened at that and he initially looked around before finally looking at Bloody Baron. "You can speak?!"

"That's what you notice from that?! And of course I can!" Baron roared at him angrily.

Vergil huffed. "You can't blame me for being surprised, I've been here for more than two months and this is the first time you spoke," sighing Vergil looked in the direction the old guy went in. If he was in the same situation he'd likely try to do the same. "Thanks Baron, but he's still annoying."

And then a sound eerily similar to deep chuckle made Vergil's jaw drop.

"The world is ending…" that or he was just dreaming, which would make sense given what happened with Hermione. On the other hand that should be impossible since he always took the dreamless sleep potion. Yes, the world was indeed ending.

Or maybe not because it still existed about six hours later when Vergil rested in the common room, just looking at the water. If the world did decide to end today he would not waste a moment studying.

Unfortunately, that didn't mean he wouldn't have to waste time on Malfoy, as the angry looking boy sat down right next to him.

"You weren't at the match," it was a statement and Vergil could tell it was merely a prologue of a long speech.

"I don't care about quidditch Malfoy," Vergil did try his best to end it before it even had a chance to begin.

"Well you should! Anyway can you imagine what Potter did? He ended up with snitch in his mouth and it counted. I feel so cheated right now," Malfoy complained, droning on and on about how it wasn't fair. How Slytherin was winning and all that.

Vergil on the other hand chose to focus his attention back on the water above him. It was relaxing, seeing the lake from below.

"Preposterous! That's what it was! He damn near swallowed the snitch!" both Vergil and Malfoy turned around to see Gemma complaining about what happened at the match.

Her friends, a couple of other fifth year students rolled their eyes at her. "We're going to study, join us when you cool off," one of them told her and the group separated from her.

"Sure, sure," it was obvious Gemma was searching for something to do or someone that shared her passion for quidditch.

"Hey, Farley! Over here!" Malfoy actually called her to come over.

"Tell me you've seen that ridiculous match, I mean come on!" she dragged out the last few words and rolled her eyes at the memory of Potter catching the snitch.

"Seriously what was that all about?! Potter just keeps getting rewarded for breaking the rules," Malfoy grumbled.

"You're supposed to catch it. Catch it, not bite it," Gemma made sure that whoever somehow didn't get the word of it knew exactly what Potter did to obtain the snitch.

"Isn't there a phrase catching the flies or whatever?" Vergil asked pretty much out of nowhere.

Gemma raised an eyebrow at that. "Uh, yeah, no idea why that would be relevant though."

Vergil smirked. "Well since in that case you do catch them with your mouth I guess Potter didn't do anything wrong," he just had to do it.

Gemma swatted his shoulder and Malfoy glared at him. "I'll hit you with a book if you say that again."

Smirk never vanished from Vergil's face. "Such an inspiring role model. Perfect prefect, no doubt about it."

Gemma rolled her eyes again and went back to complaining about the match with Malfoy. It was surprising to Vergil but they hit it off fairly well, really well actually.

 _ **~X~**_

Days passed, quite uneventfully really and eventually could be boiled down to classes, hanging out with Hermione every now and then, extra potions and a few things in between. Either way Christmas break was approaching and so came the day in which Snape stepped into the common room and began asking students whether they'd leave or stay at Hogwarts.

"Do you really need to ask me? You know I'm staying," Vergil said when Snape walked up to him.

"As you wish," Snape wrote down Vergil's name and proceeded to the next student.

Weeks passed and seeing as Hermione went home for the Christmas break Vergil turned his attention at potions pretty much all day long. Dreamless sleep potion was a lot harder to make than Vergil guessed it would be, but finally, finally he was getting closer to completing it.

He added the essence of nettle and heated the potion once more. Vergil stirred the content of his cauldron one last time and pointed his wand at it just as Snape walked up to him and began inspecting the potion.

"It can pass," Snape stated and Vergil had to grin.

"So I can drink this instead tonight?" Vergil asked.

Snape seemed to consider it for a few moments. "Perhaps you can."

Half-devil smirked and poured the potion into the bottle.

 _ **~X~**_

Blaise woke up in the middle of the night feeling thirsty. When he came back to the room he didn't think he'd find Leonidas awake as well. The white haired boy seemed slightly distraught and had sweat sliding down his face.

"What's wrong?" though reluctantly Blaise dared to ask.

"Nothing," Leonidas replied, but it was obviously anything but nothing.

"Come on Leonidas, we're in the same house, you should trust me," Blaise said and sat down on his bed.

"Trust you?" Leonidas repeated clearly puzzled by the idea.

"You're strange," Blaise pointed out. They were housemates, it was kind of logical to have at least a bit of trust between one another.

Leonidas rolled his eye at that. "Just a bit of a nightmare," he reluctantly admitted.

Blaise looked at him, then at the red eye, Leonidas was different. Even while being arrogant Blaise could still notice that the boy excelled in potions, he was fine when it came to other subjects as well, but he had this air of seriousness around him, he was kind of intimidating.

 _ **~X~**_

It was on the holidays that Vergil finally decided to talk to Snape once more.

"I want to know how you got injured," he spoke up once he finished making the potion.

"This again? I believe I have, made it clear, Leonidas, that you have no right to, question me," Snape stated, looking at him fairly coldly.

"And I tried to make it clear that I don't feel like being left out," Vergil had to smirk at the professor.

"You have no right to request, any involvement," Snape shut down his request yet again.

"You already let me help you out with your leg," Vergil pointed out, motioning toward the leg with his hand.

"This is completely different matter – in case you have not, noticed. Leonidas," Snape even honored him with a small glare.

"So? Look, I'm not a human child that you need to babysit until the age of twenty, I can take care of myself," he sounded fairly confident in his abilities, a combination of overestimating himself and underestimating what Snape was dealing with obviously had a part in ensuring that confidence existed.

"You are to abide to the human rules, furthermore I will not directly involve you in the matter," Snape remained adamant on keeping Vergil out of this.

Vergil kept glaring at him, feeling even more like a child than he was. "Does this have anything to do with Voldemort?" it was a wishful thinking, he kind of hoped the man would arise from the dead just so he could make living hell out of Voldemort's life in one way or another.

Well the chances of that were very slim and judging by Snape's expressionless face he didn't guess it correctly.

"Your childish thinking is clearly going against, your statement that you – are not, a child," Snape replied.

"Fine, I am being childish," Vergil muttered and looked to the side. He'd give up for now, there was no point in trying to argue with Snape, honestly he had no plan whatsoever, he had the goal set, but a plan on how to get there, absolutely not. He didn't practice at all for more than half a year, he was still in shape enough to run for a bit less than half a mile, maybe even enough to get into a bit of a brawl, but he didn't practice using neither lightning or darkness, besides the times he numbed Snape's wound.

 _ **~X~**_

The Christmas break was nearly over with only a few days left. Vergil continued having extra potions with Snape and he was for the most part on his own in the common room. Most of the Slytherin house was from the pure-blood families, thus most of the house left.

"I'm going to take a walk outside the castle, to clear my thoughts a bit," Vergil said when the extra lessons were over.

Snape didn't give him any kind of response, at least not an actual one, but Vergil knew the man heard him.

Vergil walked outside the castle and ran down the road. Snow had stopped falling but the white veil still covered everything, from the forests and mountains surrounding the area to the hills around the castle. Even the lake froze making the boy smirk. He ran down to one of the shores and lied down on the snow; it's been a long time since he felt as relaxed as he was today.

He looked at the sky, it was clear, a bit surprising given the weather they had lately. The Sun was still pretty high up meaning he still had some time to waste. He lazily glanced toward the nearby forest and saw something.

Some small… horse? With wings? Slowly he stood up and approached it. Upon taking a closer look he noticed that the creature had some reptilian characteristics, its eyes were pure white, a contrast to its black skin and it lacked flesh. He figured it was a foal that got separated from the herd of whatever it was.

The boy sat there, watching the foal, it didn't seem to notice him, which was a bit strange. Most animals either got hostile or scared when he approached them, being part devil was the probably the most responsible for that. Knowing that, he assumed he'd really suck at any subject that involved creatures. Maybe magical creatures would be somewhat different, if this one was anything to go by.

 _ **~X~**_

The school year continued and the tasks were slowly becoming more and more challenging. McGonagall certainly wasn't joking around when they were learning **Avifors;** a task that proved to be rather hard for Vergil.

 **Avifors** was a spell that transformed the target into a bird and things would probably go smoother for the half human if his image of bird wasn't demonic. The first creature bird he saw was a demon bird, thus when he envisioned a bird he envisioned that kind of bird, or some kind of crossbreed between birds around here and the birds from his previous home.

So when McGonagall finally reached him he knew he'd be screwed if the bird was complete replica of the demonic birds.

"Well Mr. Leonidas, do proceed," she encouraged him.

"Yes Professor." He closed his eye. The initial image was that of a black thin, nearly skeletal bird with sharp claws, glowing golden eyes and large beak with spikes running down from its neck to the tail, it also lacked any feathers which would be really bad to get as a result in the class. He tried to push the image out of his mind, replace it with something more familiar to the witch. His mind raced and an image of a raven popped in his mind. **"Avifors,"** he spoke clearly and pointed his wand. His eye opened and he turned to McGonagall. The witch had an unreadable expression making him look at the bird that flapped its wings but wouldn't dare fly up. It was a raven, a bit thin but still, a raven.

"Very well," She gave him a small praise. "You can improve, regardless it is an acceptable performance."

As McGonagall went to Parkinson the white haired boy closed his eye and let out a barely audible sigh of relief. So far it didn't seem like any of the staff, aside from Snape and Dumbledore, knew what he was.

* * *

 _ **And that's it, we're one chapter away from ending the first book. Funny how I originally thought I was going to go through it in two, three at most, chapters.**_

 _ **Anyway, here's a question for you. A few of them actually. I've been thinking about adding trivia after each book. Small things that could have went differently in the story or something like that. Would you like to see that?**_

 _ **Also, I've started fleshing out some characters, but we're only three chapters in so if you have any character or characters you'd like to see get a bigger role feel free to tell me. This story is first and foremost for entertainment, both mine and yours so I'm open for suggestions. It doesn't even have to be a Slytherin, any character that exists in the books and it's logically possible to give them a bigger role is fair game. So do you have any suggestions?**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **RamenLoverPixie – Thanks for reviewing. Ah, you might want to be a bit more specific on backbone. As we might have a different take on what that could mean. Harry and Ron having issues with Hermione hanging out with Vergil could happen, actually it likely will at a certain point. There's certainly no need for Hermione to desperately cling to them, that's true, with Vergil there some possibilities are now open. On the other hand there's also a bunch of issues with Vergil, first of all he is a Slytherin, unknowingly to Hermione he's also a cambion, simply put things can get really complicated.**_

 _ **Josephguy217 – Thank you.**_

 _ **Falcodude – Then I guess this one was also a welcome surprise, seeing as it didn't take me too long to update again. I'm glad you loved the chapter.**_

 _ **Guest – Thank you, I know, it really did take me a long time to get that second chapter out.**_

 _ **Anime PJ – Thank you, I'm glad you think so. Regarding Vergil being more of a Gryffindor. The way I see it, and tried to show it in this chapter, Vergil is vulnerable right now, confused and trying to sort things out. He is reckless, daring, all in all he'll more likely act before he thinks things through. Now those traits are much more prominent than his Slytherin traits. He doesn't have something to strive for at the moment, there's no need to make detailed plans and I never intended to have him exhibit self-preservation as trait but that's a topic for later chapters. I see him as sort of a mix between the two houses and with time, as he grows and matures, Slytherin traits will start showing up.**_

 _ **Badger10 – Thank you. Well, Vergil and Draco will end up as friends, it's just that they had a bit of a rocky start. Draco needs someone to defy him and still do what Vergil did. As far as I'm concerned that's friend, a person that can stand up to you and for you. It might take some more time, a bit more than it originally did but they'll get there. As for Vergil being more of a Gryffindor, you're right, I've already addressed it in the previous reply but the gist is he's somewhere in between with Gryffindor traits being a bit more prominent at the moment.**_

 _ **Guest – Thank you, I'm glad you think so.**_


	4. Forest Troubles

_**Chapter 4 – Forest Troubles**_

* * *

Vergil didn't remember much of his mother. A few things here and there, a smile, her appearance though the image did get blurry with years. One thing did stick with him, a phrase she had when things got bad, which often happened while he still lived with her. 'Devil took off with fun.'

He didn't know why the words so suddenly popped into his head but it was fitting considering he was in Snape's office and fully aware that his sclera turned red.

Devil took off with fun. _'Looks like dad took off with fun and as usual left a whole lot of trouble.'_

 _ **~X~**_

It all started about two months before the exams on one DADA class Slytherins fifth years had with Ravenclaws. Professor Quirrell made the classes absolutely ridiculous, it was Gemma's fifth year and she felt like she was in her third. The man sort of showed them a few simple spells but every time he would have to talk about something remotely threatening, he'd turn into even more of a nervous wreck.

"T-T-Today we w-will talk ab-out d-d-d-" for some reasons he had even more trouble this time around.

"Dragons?" Oliver Wood couldn't hide his excitement at the idea, and neither could most of the students. Dragons were interesting to study, to say the least. Though Gemma would prefer to never encounter one herself.

"D-De-demons and d-d-d-d-d-devils," just from saying that Quirrell looked like he was about to faint. "Now! What can you t-tell me about the d-d, the latter?" he sounded positively jumpy, as if expecting one to jump out of nowhere and attack him.

As usual it was Weasley that raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Weasley," Quirrell nodded to his student.

"Devils are a race of humanoid demons most known for their yellow eyes and black slit shaped pupils. They can't use magic, but are somehow able to control things like fire or earth, the nature of this ability is yet to be uncovered. Devils are generally bloodthirsty, aggressive creatures praying on those to weak to resist, especially muggles."

It was nearly word for word summary of chapter on devils. Gemma felt sick as she thought back to descriptions of brutalized victims. She did read up on them, finding the idea of human-like intelligence interesting, at that time she wanted to learn more, figure out why the creatures were so feared. She found out and whole-heartedly agreed when she found out about numerous expeditions to the Demon World that ended with remarkably long list of those killed in action; most of the bodies were never recovered. The most recent one happened seventeen years ago led by promising new Auror, 24 years old Eirene Verloren, yet as promising as she was not a single person returned.

"I would l-like you all t-to write an e-essay with your th-thoughts on one of these c-creatures. By the next w-week, please," the timid professor mumbled and stuttered, all the while Gemma resigned to her fate, she would need to get this done.

 _ **~X~**_

When Vergil came back from library he saw Gemma, deep in her thoughts sitting cross-legged on the sofa with a book in her lap. She seemed to be struggling with whatever she was reading. Without much thinking he went over to her and glanced at the pages she was reading. "Devils?" he spoke up before his brain could properly register what he saw.

Gemma looked up from the book, a small tired smile appeared and she patted the spot next to her. "Back from study session with your Gryffindor?" she asked nonchalantly.

Vergil rolled his eye at the use of 'your', Hermione was his friend, and she was a Gryffindor, but she was definitely not his Gryffindor. He scowled and leaned back against the sofa. "She's not 'mine'," he did say that, but he didn't meet Gemma's eyes.

Gemma raised her hands. "Come on, I'm just yanking your wand, after all you still think girls have cooties," she reached out for her book, it looked like whatever she was working on wasn't going all too well at the moment.

"What are cooties?"

The older Slytherin blinked a few times at that. "Wait what?"

Vergil tilted his head to the side. "What are cooties?"

"You don't know?"

And now he was getting a bit annoyed. "Obviously."

"You really don't know?"

And he was officially getting irritated. "Why else would I ask?"

"Every kid knows that," she was trying to suppress a laugh.

"Guess I'll ask someone else," Vergil decided and stood up only to be yanked back down. "What's your problem?!" he whined at the abrupt use of force.

A few students glanced at them and Gemma chuckled uncomfortably. "Just making sure he does his homework," she rubbed the back of her head while secretly keeping Vergil's mouth shut with her other palm.

" _My_ homework? Really?" Vergil scoffed once she allowed him to speak again. "So what are those cooties anyway?"

She rubbed her chin, likely thinking about how to answer him. "Hmm, let's see. Kids your age usually think opposite sex has cooties, a disease so to speak, and that keeps them from hanging out with the opposite sex. Something like that anyway," she quickly put a finger against Vergil's mouth. "It's not real, trust me."

Annoyed Vergil swatted her finger away. "That's stupid."

"So is your attitude towards the rest of your classmates."

Vergil raised an eyebrow at that. "How come?"

Gemma subtly nodded towards Malfoy and the a few others from his year. "You think they are wrong and don't want to give them a chance until they change. It's not that easy to reject everything your family believes in, especially for no reason."

"I did," Vergil boldly stated.

Gemma gave him a 'yeah-right' kind of look. "Did you really?"

"Yes, otherwise I wouldn't be here," he sounded so certain, so confident in the truth he believed in.

"If you say so," yet Gemma wasn't buying it. "So that gave you the right to decide what's wrong? The right to know who is right and who is wrong?"

"I decide on my own, no matter what those around me think," Vergil persisted in his claim.

"All the time?"

"Yes."

"You've never been influenced by anyone else?"

"I…" he was stuck there, it felt wrong to say he wasn't, he knew he was, his mother, Grom, even Snape, hell even Raum, his commander at the start of the war did affect his decisions. "I was."

"Think about it Vergil, try to see it from the other perspective as well. I'll see you later kid," kid, in the end that's what he was.

 _ **~X~**_

A week later everything started falling apart. As owls delivered the letters and other things Vergil absentmindedly ate his breakfast. After Gemma sent him a letter all the way back when he had his first fling lesson he didn't have any interactions with owls, and that was months ago. So when an own dropped a letter in front of his plate he was more than a little surprised.

He opened the letter and his eye immediately widened. "Son of a-" he quickly reread the letter, just to make sure he got it right. Gemma was in danger and in Quirrell's classroom… Vergil ran out quicker than ever before.

It looked like the castle was trying to stop him, the stairs began moving just as he was about to reach the floor where Quirrell's classroom was. Narrowing his eye he leapt forward barely reaching the stairs and though he heard gasps from other students at the reckless move he didn't care. Just get there, just get there before anything bad happened. He turned around the corner and made a beeline towards the door. Empty corridor was his saving grace as he likely would have done the same thing even if there were dozens of students around him. Electricity crackled around his right hand and he thrust it forward, sending a bolt of lightning directly at the doorknob. The lock was blasted into smithereens and the doors flung open.

"Gemma!" Vergil yelled and rushed into the classroom, there she was, sitting in the front row with Quirrell at his usual spot. Both of them looked at him in utter surprise, shock even. Vergil looked at Quirrell, everything looked normal, aside from the malicious look in his eyes, the look easily concealed by the rest of his nervous body language.

"M-Mr. Leonidas what a-are you do-doing here?" Quirrell asked and then pointed a shaky finger at the damaged doors. "A-And that is school pr-property you just d-damaged."

"How did you do that? First years don't learn spells like that," Gemma asked incredulously.

Vergil honestly wasn't sure what to think, he fully expected to fly straight into a fight with Quirrell but nothing was happening. "I, well- some idiot may have tricked me…" damn that letter, damn his own stupidity for falling for the trick.

Gemma looked different, nervous and her usual smile was missing. "If I ask you a question, will you answer it honestly?"

Vergil's eye widened at that. "Gemma? What are you-"

"Will you answer it honestly?" she was being more forceful than ever, her voice filled with as much authority as she could muster.

"Yes, I will. What's wrong?" he had a feeling it would be about what he told her, maybe something went wrong, maybe she thought he tricked her.

"You are a half-devil, aren't you?"

She knew, he didn't know how but she did. The only thing he could do was nod and as she stood up, said goodbye to Quirrell and just walked out, making sure she was nowhere near him, he just stood there, looking at the floor.

"Mr. Leonidas," there was no stutter this time around as Quirrell spoke up, far more confident then Vergil ever saw or heard him before. "For destruction of school property I'm taking twenty points from Slytherin and you will be notified of your further punishment. You may leave now."

Vergil looked at the turban wearing professor, it was a trap, everything was a trap and he walked right into it. "How did you know?"

"I said you may leave," Quirrell reminded him coldly.

Well, it's not like it mattered. It won't be long before everyone knew what he was. It didn't matter how Quirrell figured it out. Leaving the classroom he made his way to where Snape was. Everything looked blank, empty, void of life as the realization of what happened truly dawned upon him. He reached out and knocked on the doors, a few moments later he was inside with Snape. His right hand grabbed the bandages and he pulled them off, looking at the man with both of his eyes.

"Gemma knows what I am, Quirrell found out and told her."

Vergil watched as Snape abruptly looked at him once again confirming the gravity of the situation.

Wordlessly the man took his wand and began walking forward.

"What are you going to do?" Vergil asked, his voice nearly monotone.

"I'll erase her memories related to your identity before she can tell anyone else," the words tipped him over the edge.

Vergil didn't remember much of his mother. A few things here and there, a smile, her appearance though the image did get blurry with years. One thing did stick with him, a phrase she had when things got bad, which often happened while he still lived with her. 'Devil took off with fun.'

He didn't know why the words so suddenly popped into his head but it was fitting considering he was in Snape's office and fully aware that his sclera turned red.

Devil took off with fun. _'Looks like dad took off with fun and as usual left a whole lot of trouble.'_

"No."

His voice, there was just a bit of echo in it.

Snape stopped, right in front of him, looked him straight in the eyes and glared.

"If you _**ma**_ ke her fo _ **rge**_ t you'll have to _**kill**_ me to make _**me**_ stop," bits and pieces of his words were disembodied, he was desperate, he would not let this happen.

Snape glared at him. "Kill you? You really think – that you can – resist to that point?"

He was being mocked. "I have devil blood flowing through my veins, _**do not underestimate me!**_ " his voice finally went from normal to fully disembodied, he could feel his blood boiling. And for the first time Snape seemed taken aback by what he was.

"Calm down," it was an order but what good would that do right now? Why should he listen to his orders?

Vergil growled, his anger spiked up at the human's demeanor. Lightning crackled and he barely kept it under command. How dare he think of messing with someone's memories?! " _ **Don't you understand how important the memories are?! How much damage you'll make?!**_ "

"And you don't understand what – the consequences are," Snape snarled, he clearly got over the initial shock.

" _ **I do not care!**_ " Vergil clenched his fist, swallowed hard and shut his eyes tight. " _ **I do**_ not _**care…**_ " he needed to calm down.

He heard Snape sighing. "Vergil, calm down," this time it didn't sound like an order and thus it was something his rage poisoned mind could digest properly.

"I can't _**let you, s**_ he's no _ **t guilty**_ of any _ **thing**_ ," slowly, his voice began shifting between disembodied and normal.

Snape sat down on one of the chairs next to Vergil, he kept his posture nonthreatening. "Something needs to be done."

Vergil shook his head. "No. I'll deal with what happens; I'll deal with what Gemma decides to do," and like that his voice was back to normal. He dropped down to his knees, he didn't meet Snape's eyes and instead focused on the cold floor. "Please, just don't do anything to her," he didn't move a muscle, he didn't do a single thing as crackling lightning vanished into thin air.

The silence was deafening and it felt like eternity passed before Snape replied. "Headmaster will decide," it was better than what he had hoped for. "For now act normally."

Vergil could only muster two words. "Yes, sir…"

 _ **~X~**_

He had no idea how many days passed, two or five, it made no difference. He was waiting for the inevitable, sooner or later Gemma would tell someone, or everyone.

"Hey Vergil," Tracey Davis greeted him as she and Daphne Greengrass sat down at the table.

Keep acting normal, that's what he's been telling himself over and over again. "Hey," normal, at least that's what he thought was normal. Was he supposed to try having a conversation, go for classic small talk or wait for someone else to start conversation with him? What was normal anyway? A year ago he would be cleaning his weapon, he would be back from his shift and likely exhausted and injured from the night before. No one his age wanted to spend their valuable rest chatting about the weather.

A few minutes later the owls arrived with the letters. A small barn owl landed in front of him, disposed of the letter and flew away. It was the information about his detention.

Vergil raised an eyebrow at that, there weren't any details of his punishment, just to meet up with Filch. Something wasn't right, even now he could see it. Quirrell… "Where was that stuttering back then?" he mumbled into his chin; Gemma didn't say anything yet, otherwise he would notice some changes, Snape didn't mess with her memories because she was avoiding him like a plague so that likely meant she wasn't going to say anything until he crossed some line she made up. Whatever Quirrell was planning Vergil wasn't about to go down without a fight. "Let's see what you've got, bastard professor," he turned to glare at the man for a moment, just a brief moment, he didn't need anyone to notice it.

Vergil stood up and made his way towards the door. He still needed to study.

"Good to see you're back," Davis suddenly told him.

Vergil halted and then grinned. "Was I gone?"

She winked at him. "Just a bit absent."

In the end he wasn't acting all that normal after all.

 _ **~X~**_

Time passed and the night of detention came upon the ones involved. Vergil and Malfoy went to the entrance hall to meet up with a way too eager Filch. The Gryffindor trio was running a bit late and Vergil couldn't help but feel annoyed at the look the man had on his face.

"You sure seem to enjoy yourself," Vergil commented as he leaned against the wall.

"Disrespectful brat," Filch muttered under his breath, but aside from that he didn't remark on anything else.

Before Vergil could further continue the conversation he heard the trio approaching. Hermione, Potter and Neville. He nodded to greet the three of them and watched as Potter's green eyes widened slightly.

"Leonidas?" he questioned sounding just as surprised as he looked.

"I got caught up in a few things," Vergil smirked not in the least bothered by the detention, in fact he was eager to see what Quirrell had planned for him. Now that he saw Potter he was even more eager to see where this night would lead.

"Why didn't you tell me you'd be here?" Hermione was more curious than anything else.

"I didn't really get a chance."

"Never mind that, I'm glad you're back to normal," she smiled and Vergil felt the urge to slap himself.

Instead he just chuckled uncomfortably. "Yeah, back to normal."

"Quit blabbering and follow me," Filch interrupted them. He lit a lamp and began leading them outside. "I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?" he was leering at them. "Oh yes, hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me. It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out – hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep them well-oiled in case they're ever needed."

' _I'm officially disturbed,'_ Vergil felt sick to his stomach, sure, he saw quite a bit of cruelty in Thanatos, but this man was talking about hanging children by their wrists for a few days.

"Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do," and to make matters worse it sounded as if Filch wanted things to get worse for them. He sure tried his best to scare them and it worked as Neville kept sniffing.

"Sure gives a 'caretaker' a brand new definition. Really puts emphasis on 'care', wouldn't you agree?" Vergil snarled earning a snicker from Malfoy.

"Quit making this worse Leonidas," Potter berated him.

"Nothing I say will make this any worse," Vergil grumbled as they walked through darkness, their only light source being the lamp and the moon partially obscured by clouds. He could make out the shape of a hut. It didn't make any sense; why would they serve their detention out here?

"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want to get started," a voice Vergil recognized from their first night at Hogwarts spoke up. It was none other than Hagrid and apparently that eased Potter's mind.

Filch noticed that and immediately went to inform them of the punishment. "I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, boy, it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece."

Neville let out a little moan and Malfoy stopped before quickly moving a bit closer to Vergil, apparently Vergil being calm made Malfoy feel safer.

"The forest?" Malfoy repeated. A hint of fear was evident in his voice. "We can't go in there at night, there's all sorts of things in there, werewolves, I heard."

Similar to how Malfoy moved closer to Vergil, Neville also sought some comfort in his fellow classmate. He clutched the sleeve of Potter's robe and made a choking noise.

"That's your problem, isn't it?" Filch really enjoyed himself, his voice cracking with glee. "Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn't you?"

Hagrid came striding toward them out of the dark, a large dog right at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder. "Abou' time, I been waitin' for half an hour already. All right, Harry, Hermione?"

"I wouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid," Filch once again interfered with the conversation rather coldly. "They're here to be punished, after all."

"That's why yeh're late, is it?" Hagrid frowned at Filch taking a surprisingly protective attitude over them. "Been lecturin' them, eh? It's not yer place to do that. Yeh've done your bit, I'll take over from here."

"I'll be back at dawn, for what's left of them," Filch spoke nastily and he turned and started back toward the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness.

Malfoy turned to Hagrid. "I'm not going in that forest."

Vergil could clearly hear the panic in his voice.

"Yeh are if you want to stay at Hogwarts. Yeh've done wrong an' now yeh've got to pay for it." Hagrid replied strictly. As protective as he seemed it was clear that rules were rules and punishment was punishment.

"But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do. I thought we'd be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this-" but he was quickly interrupted.

"-he'd tell yeh that's how it is at Hogwarts," Hagrid growled. "Copyin' lines! What good's that to anyone? Yeh'll do something useful or yeh'll get out. If yeh think your father would rather yeh were expelled, then get back off to the castle an' pack. Go on."

Malfoy was furious, but he didn't move, he just glared at Hagrid but eventually dropped his gaze.

Vergil looked up to the sky, no complaining would get them out of this, though he did find it ironic that a punishment for breaking a rule involved breaking another rule. Sure, they were accompanied by Hagrid, but still… One thing was certain, this would be an interesting night.

Albeit a bit chilly, especially given the time of the year as the group of five first year students followed Hagrid and his dog.

"Right then, now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment," Hagrid led them to the very edge of the forest. Holding his lamp up high, he pointed down a narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick black trees.

A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked into the forest; the ominous feeling it gave off sent slight shivers down Vergil's spine, his instincts were screaming for him to stay alert.

"Look there, see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by something. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have to put it out of its misery," Hagrid explained their task.

"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" Malfoy asked, he was unable to keep the fear out of his voice.

"There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yeh're with me or Fang," Hagrid seemed quite sure of that. "An' keep to the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in different directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least."

Vergil looked at the trails of blood. The devil side taking over he found himself kneeling behind the group and looking at the blood. He touched it… dry… it was probably too late for the animal. If whatever wounded it was still in the forest anyway.

"I want Fang," Malfoy was quick to decide, mostly because of Fang's long teeth. "And Vergil!" he quickly added.

"Leonid- ah whatever, it's not like you listen," Vergil gave up on correcting him.

"All right, but I warn yeh, Fang's a coward," Hagrid agreed with the plan. "So me, Harry, an' Hermione'll go one way an' Draco, Neville, Vergil, an' Fang'll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get your wands out an' practice now," it was a simple spell so none of them had any troubles with doing it.

"That's it, an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find you, so, be careful, let's go," Hagrid took lead into the silent forest.

Vergil kept his eye on the road, noticing subtle signs of movement, the only downside was that he couldn't tell if they were made by the unicorn or not. A little way into it the forest they reached a fork in the earth path and split up.

"Be careful," Hermione whispered and rolled her eyes when Vergil simply smirked at her.

Vergil, Neville, Malfoy and Fang took the right while Hermione, Potter and Hagrid took the left.

The moment they separated from Hagrid things went downhill. Fang was, as Hagrid said, quite a coward and he walked down the path with his tail between his legs. Neville, having lost Potter, felt scared out of his mind. Desperate he inched a bit closer to Vergil.

Vergil closed his eye, his senses sharpened. He heard a faint sound and concentrated on it.

"What's the matter Longbottom? Where's that Gryffindor courage you guys are boasting about?" Malfoy taunted despite being in a rather similar position as the boy he taunted. He failed to see Vergil's annoyance at that. "I thought so," Malfoy said smugly when Neville remained silent.

Another sound got Vergil's attention, it was closer this time and he could somewhat identify it. A sound of something slithering over dead leaves… It was getting closer.

"Shut it," Vergil hissed his voice dangerously low. Fang growled at the halfling but piped down when he too noticed something.

Neville and Malfoy got closer behind the him as he slowly reached out for his wand. His eye was fixated to the direction of the sound and his pupil widened, taking in as much of light as possible to clear his vision. A figure moved through the trees, close to the ground, perhaps even moving on all fours, hidden by the bushes and the darkness. "Stay here," Vergil said and took a step forward.

"V-Vergil-" Neville began making Vergil raise his hand.

"Just taking a look, stay quiet," Vergil crouched down, slowly as to not disturb the nature around him. The wind was blowing into his face, meaning whatever it was it couldn't smell him that easily, he on the other hand smelt blood and… garlic…? ' _What in the world…?_ ' he couldn't help but wonder as he saw the creature stopping, this was dangerous, if it saw them beforehand then it would notice that he was no longer with the others.

A drop of sweat slid down his chin and he wiped it off before it could fall to the ground. As silently as he possibly could he reached out for a branch of a tree. The branch was dry, which of course made it easy to crack and alert the creature. Much to Vergil's surprise the creature moved swiftly. Vergil's eye widened and he turned to the others. "Make a circle, quickly," he took the basic control over the situation just like how he was taught back in Thanatos.

The three boys stood with their backs turned to one another, their wands out.

"Vergil…?" Malfoy breathed out, feeling terrified and anxious even over the wind that caressed his skin.

"There's something around here," Vergil muttered and the dog barked.

"A werewolf?" Neville asked fearfully.

Half devil felt eyes on him, but he couldn't pinpoint the location of the enemy.

"A human. Or something human-like," Vergil said, feeling fairly confident in his conclusion despite having little to no knowledge on magical creatures. "It's light on its feet; it doesn't look heavy and well… I'm not an expert on magical creatures but I'm positive it's something similar to a human, if not a human," if it came to a fight they didn't have much going for them, at least they didn't. Vergil was certain he could put up a fight using the devil abilities he had. But the killing intent that filled the air made it clear to him that this was serious.

Suddenly everything stopped.

The moment he looked to his left his blood red eye clashed with a pair of eyes about fifteen feet ahead. The forest hid the creature, making sure Vergil couldn't further identify it. He nearly jumped back and the shock was the only thing that kept him from doing so. A flock of birds took flight through the night and the creature slipped deeper into the darkness, leaving the trio and the dog alone…

"Where is it?" Malfoy had to ask.

"Maybe I was seeing things, it's dark after all," Vergil lied, his heartrate dropping back to normal. there was no need for them to be more scared then they already were.

"Nice one Vergil, really," Malfoy snarled; sarcasm and irritation dripping into his voice. He was trying to cover up insecurities with faked act of control; one that Vergil blatantly ignored.

"H-He was just being careful," Neville spoke up timidly.

"Let's just get back to the search," Vergil sighed, he was still being cautious, but his posture relaxed at least on the outside. He needed to keep an eye on everything. Vergil led the group further down the path, he completely concentrated on their surrounding thus he made a mistake of letting both Malfoy and Neville stay behind him.

A terrified scream and an instinctive firing of the red sparks notified him of the mistake he made. The half devil turned around abruptly to realize what just happened… Malfoy…

The blond laughed loudly at the terrified round faced boy.

Vergil narrowed his eye and then felt mischief overtake him for a few moments. He concentrated on creating a small couple of sparks right behind Malfoy. Nothing dangerous but it certainly would give him a bit of a startle. He smirked and moved the sparks, thus directing them into his fellow Slytherin.

Malfoy jumped and screamed, though it wasn't a scream caused by pain, but rather by fear. Neville's eyes widened and he fearfully looked around looking for the cause of whatever startled Neville. He turned to Vergil who was whistling innocently.

" **Verdimillious** ," the white haired boy grinned. "We should probably wait, you already alerted the others," Vergil decided to sit down.

"My father will hear about this," Malfoy threatened and Vergil found the way his cheeks went completely red to be very amusing.

"Do you want me to tell him? I'd be happy to really," Vergil smirked. "Suck it up. You pulled a prank, I returned the favor."

A minute later the sounds of Hagrid's large form approaching them became apparent.

"What happened?!" the man asked the moment he realized there was no harm done to the boys in front of him, in fact the white haired one was just kinda sitting there with his legs crossed and a grin on his face.

"To put it simply a prank," Vergil bluntly stated without a single care in the world. "Where are the other two?" he suddenly got serious, that creature was still somewhere around here and no matter what those two had no chance on their own.

"On the path. I came to get yeh," Hagrid said, clearly restraining his anger. Vergil understood him, this was the last thing they should have done, in fact he was impressed Hagrid was keeping his cool.

"Let's go then," Vergil jumped to his feet. If that thing got to Hermione and Potter just because of the stupid prank he'd never forgive himself.

 _ **~X~**_

Hagrid was busy with the trio, which meant that Hermione and Harry were on their own. The two looked at each other, scared out of their minds, now all they could hear was the rustling of the leaves around them.

"You don't think they've been hurt, do you?" Hermione whispered.

"I don't care if Malfoy and Leonidas have, but if something's got Neville... it's our fault he's here in the first place," Harry replied.

"Vergil wasn't with Malfoy, remember? He's not that bad," she wasn't sure how else to pass time until Hagrid came back.

Harry huffed. "Yeah, but he's a Slytherin and he's helping Snape. That's bad enough for me."

The minutes dragged by. Their hearing was sharper than usual and they were picking up even the slightest sounds around them. Hagrid was taking too long… At last he returned, fuming, yes, but with others nonetheless. Hermione was just happy everyone was fine.

"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you three were makin'. Right, we're changin' groups, Neville, you stay with me an' Hermione, Harry, you go with Fang an' these idiots," Hagrid made the new arrangements and they were set to go once more.

 _ **~X~**_

Half an hour of walking later the three boys delved deeper into the forest; in fact the path became nearly impossible to follow because the trees were quite thick. Speaking of thicker, the blood Vergil noticed was getting thicker as well. And there was more of it.

He stopped and Potter stopped Malfoy.

"Look," Potter murmured as he held out his arm.

Something bright white was gleaming on the ground in the clearing. They inched closer. It was the unicorn, a dead one at that. A familiar sound of slithering reached Vergil's ears and he pulled Potter back. The boy clearly wanted to turn back to face Vergil but the sound, which was now clear to him and Malfoy as well made him freeze.

A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered...

Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground just like some stalking beast. Potter, Malfoy and Fang were transfixed as the cloaked figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head over the wound in the animal's side, and began to drink its blood.

"AAAAARGH!" Malfoy let out a terribly loud scream and bolted along with Fang, leaving the frozen Potter and Vergil on their own.

The cloaked figure raised its head and looked right at the duo; unicorn blood was dribbling down its front. Vergil reached out for his wand, his mind racing for some spell that could be even remotely used as an offense… The figure got to its feet and came swiftly toward them.

"Run," Vergil muttered but then realized the boy was paralyzed with fear. "Great," Vergil hissed. He took a closer look at the quickly approaching figure; it looked familiar for some reason. He heard hooves behind them, galloping. Something jumped over them and charged at the figure. They were safe but this would be for nothing if he didn't get any information out of this. "Get Potter out of here!" he yelled at the newcomer, hoping that it wouldn't be a mistake to leave Potter with whoever this was, and bolted after the figure.

Barely a few moments passed before he realized he made a mistake, not with actions concerning Potter, but with what he was doing. He was in a forest he didn't know, with something he knew nothing about and who knows what other creatures he also knew nothing about. "I'm a genius," he had to compliment himself but this wasn't time for sarcasm.

He raised his hand and reached out for the bandages covering his right eye. A sound of slashing made him stop abruptly and jump back.

Blood dripped down his right hand and he took a brief look at a cut on the back of his wrist. That would have been his neck if he hadn't jumped away. Staying in one spot was a rookie mistake, one he didn't plan on repeating. But running blindly could be fatal, instead he concentrated, feeling the killing intent directed right at him me made a feint by jerking to the right and then abruptly heading to his left side. A decent move seeing as the area where he would have been had he taken the right route was hit by an explosion.

The boy jumped into the bushes and grabbed a dried branch, he needed to make a counterattack. The wind was blowing into his face, but he didn't know if it was carrying his scent to his enemy. He assumed that was the case because he couldn't smell blood. His heart drummed against his chest as he threw the branch to the side. He rushed forward behind a tree and watched as the branch got cut in half reminding him of the cut he was gripping, desperate to prevent any noises from alerting the enemy he gripped at his cut wrist.

The robes were annoying him, preventing him from moving properly. He slipped out of them and put them over the tree. He took his wand, whispered the spell's name and made a motion to cast **Verdimillious** over the robes making them slightly electrifying. If he was silent enough it could be a bit of a distraction as well.

Slowly Vergil stepped away from the tree and moved around the area, he walked backwards with wind constantly hitting his back. That way he hoped he'd smell blood behind him and see if the enemy was approaching him. His breathing was calm, contradicting the way his body reacted, contradicting the way his heart skipped a beat when he smelt the blood and darted to the side as quickly as he could. He hid in the bushes and observed as the figure walked by just about five feet away from him. It was definitely someone familiar, but he still couldn't recognize them.

" **Wingardium Leviosa** ," he muttered under his breath and manipulated his robes to move slightly. The creature moved toward them making Vergil smirk. He wasn't going down without a fight. Slowly he pushed his body up. The attacker got right by the robes when Vergil directed them to cover the creature.

He'd be stupid if he thought that would be enough, to hell with **Verdimillious** doing the job it was supposed to, he wasn't going in for that, he just needed a diversion. " **Flipendo**!" he roared and the creature formed a sort of a shield solely based on the direction from which Vergil's voice came. Yet the knockback never reached the shield. He didn't have one, but two diversions. He lunged forward and slammed his fist into the figure, right in the side of the head.

Vergil knew his punch wasn't going to be enough, but he lost the element of surprise, all that for minimal results. Still going like this, risking this much without any information. He reached out and pulled his robes off the man. His eyes widened when he recognized the man. The scent of garlic made sense now. "Quirrell?"

"Yes, me," his voice, he sounded tired, but confident. This was in no way the stuttering Quirrell Vergil knew. "You do understand that you are at my mercy here, don't you?"

' _Like hell I am!'_ this man somehow found out what he was, this man actually dared to ruin one friendship he had within his house. Instead of running Vergil remained staring down at the Professor. Wind brought a scent of blood to his nostrils and he narrowed his eye. His own blood dripped onto the ground where he stood and it was the only sound out of place in the forest. He didn't even bother with raising his wand, he had nothing to counter Quirrell, nothing human and so he dared Quirrell to attack. His glare was sending a clear message, 'come at me, if you dare' and as foolish as it was that was how he felt.

"Join us, Leonidas, with Him guiding you, you could do great things," Quirrell made an offer that honestly surprised and more importantly angered the half devil.

"Join? After what you told Gemma?" he growled, feeling his anger fuel his soul.

"That is a 'No' then?" the professor asked for one final confirmation.

"Hell yes it's a 'No' you bastard!" Vergil roared at the top of his lungs.

"Pity," Quirrell sighed and before Vergil could react he made a quick move with his wand.

Vergil froze, he felt a pressure crushing him, squeezing him almost like a snake that wrapped its' body around its' prey. He couldn't take even the smallest breath in and he felt like some of his bones were close to cracking. _'No, not like this,'_ just for a moment his sclera turned red and a single word escaped his throat. " _ **Perun!**_ " with the eruption of energy the pressure vanished and Vergil leaned forward, his arms hanging limply. A blade shone in the moonlight, a seemingly common shashka, a very slightly curved sword without a guard with black grip and blood red hexagon shaped pommel.

A deep breath later Vergil jumped back his sword raised and ready to slice at Quirrell. "Your move," he was focused, feeling the power of his Devil Arm, Perun, strengthening his senses and his eyes widened. _'What the hell is wrong with his soul? It feels contaminated…'_

"You can relax, I've been ordered not to kill you," Quirrell assured him and pulled the cloak over his head.

Vergil didn't want to stop him, quite frankly he felt relieved that Quirrell was leaving him alone. Now he only needed to get back to his group. He kept Perun out and began sprinting through the forest. His mind was racing, Quirrell was a professor regardless of what he did. Vergil figured something was going on when Snape was wounded like that on Halloween, but this… He ran back to where the clearing was; from there he could find his way out of the forest. The blood soaked his hand, he made the wound slightly worse by throwing a punch like that and Perun wasn't making things easier for him, but he'd survive.

The only real question he had in mind was who he could trust. Only one name popped up. Snape. He was the only one Vergil was willing to trust. Not too far from where he was he saw the small clearing and Perun dissipated in a small burst of lightning. The others were right there.

"Vergil!" Hermione was the first to notice him.

"Hey," he sounded and looked breathless. Hermione ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Not the neck," he groaned and she immediately dropped her hands lower.

"Where were yeh?!" Hagrid roared at him, half worried half angry at the first year student he was towering over.

"No idea. I got separated," Vergil tried to explain but his mind still wouldn't let him think reasonably.

"What were you thinking running off like that?" she was trembling slightly and even her voice was shaky. She pulled back and looked him over. "Where are your robes and-" she noticed the cut on his wrist. "Your wrist. How did this happen?"

"Hermione it's fine. There's nothing to worry about," he assured her, though he'd lie if he said he wasn't feeling a strange mixture of annoyance and warmth because of her worry. Annoyance was understandable, at least to him, but warmth, that was a new one. "I fell," he added when she didn't look satisfied with his answer.

"What happened to your robes?" Potter asked.

"Mind your own business Potter," Malfoy spat before Vergil could reply to Potter.

"No one asked you," the tension between Potter and Malfoy was apparent.

"And I don't see why you'd be concerned about my robes, Potter," Vergil grew agitated, the boy was acting all brave now, but when the moment to really be brave came he froze in fear.

The one to stop all the tension was Hagrid who had enough of them fighting. The night was finally coming to a close and quite frankly no one had any complaints about ending this detention a bit earlier than they were supposed to.

 _ **~X~**_

A bit later Vergil and Malfoy finally entered the Slytherin common room and pretty much dragged themselves to their room.

Their roommates were soundly sleeping and Vergil pretty much tossed himself onto the bed, too tired to even do that task properly.

"Hey, hey Vergil," Malfoy muttered.

"Leonidas," Vergil corrected weakly.

"That thing we saw," Malfoy ignored the correction.

"Yeah?"

"That's what you saw before, right?" Vergil's eyes widened slightly at the question. He found himself slightly surprised, but figured that Malfoy was smart enough to piece two and two together.

Vergil sighed. "It was," there was no point in lying.

"How could you stay so calm…?" Malfoy had to ask.

Vergil remained silent for a few moments, causing Malfoy to believe he fell asleep.

"We'll swap stories some other time, rest now," Vergil said and raised his right fist, his wrist was bandaged just before they made their way back to the castle. He pointed it at Malfoy and turned to smirk at him.

Malfoy's eyes widened at the gesture. He had never done anything similar to what Vergil was initiating right now, slowly he curled his fingers and formed a fist. Cautiously he raised it and moved it toward Vergil's.

Vergil pushed himself a bit out of the bed and bumped his fist against Malfoy's.

"Vergil then?" Malfoy assumed.

Vergil's smirk shifted into a grin. "Vergil," Malfoy was a bit of a spoiled brat, a bit of a bully. But underneath all that, Vergil saw something else. And he'd be damned if he didn't give this a try.

"Good night, Vergil," Malfoy said.

"Yeah, good night Draco," Vergil finally closed his eyes and fell asleep.

 _ **~X~**_

The first thing in the morning, before other students were even up Vergil was outside of Snape's personal room. Knocking on the doors and waiting for the man to come out.

Despite being early in the morning Snape was already in his regular attire. He took one look at the child in front of him and motioned him to come in without a single word. Vergil was tired, but more than anything he was uncertain of what to think.

"Talk," that one word was enough for Snape to get Vergil to do exactly what he had requested. Snape listened carefully as Vergil told him about what happened, about Quirrell, the unicorn blood, the offer Quirrell made… he didn't leave a single detail out, well aside from using Perun, Snape didn't need to know about that.

"Why unicorn blood?" Vergil asked once he finished the story.

"The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but, at a cost of, a cursed life," Snape explained making Vergil sigh.

"That explains why Quirrell couldn't kill me back there," Vergil realized, the man did try to kill him before he pulled Perun out so there was that.

What he didn't notice was the way Snape looked at him, the man seemed just a tiny bit more relaxed than usually. Perhaps after a year of teaching Vergil the potions and all the contact they had the older man grew to feel somewhat relieved due to the brat coming out of this alive.

 _ **~X~**_

The time for exams came and Vergil honestly didn't worry too much, he dealt with written exams and then he had some practical exams as well. Such as, Professor Flitwick calling students one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tapdance across a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox.

Snape's was the easiest to Vergil as he easily made a Forgetfulness potion. Over the course of the year the only subject Hermione wasn't the best at were the Potions, the title of the year's best potion student belonged to Vergil. Everything else was about average or slightly above average.

A week passed and the end-of-year feast was upon them. When Vergil walked in he saw the Great Hall decked out in the Slytherin colors of green and silver, his house had won the house cup, seventh year in a row as well.

Dumbledore arrived and the silence enveloped the room as the students looked at their Headmaster.

"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were; you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts," Vergil had to grin at that, the man was eccentric, that was for sure but Vergil kind of liked the man because of the attitude he had. "Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-seven."

Entire Slytherin table erupted in cheers. Draco even banged his goblet on the table. Vergil celebrated as well, he raised his goblet and let out a cheer, for once acting childish.

"Yes, Yes, well done, Slytherin, however, recent events must be taken into account," the room went very quiet and Vergil had a feeling he knew where this was heading. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little. "Ahem," began Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes... First, to Mr. Ronald Weasley, for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Gryffindors began cheering and it was a prelude to the fall of Slytherin.

"Second, to Miss Hermione Granger, for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Yeah, it was over.

"Third, to Mr. Harry Potter," Dumbledore caused the room to go deadly quiet. "For pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points."

The score was now only five points apart. "Wait for it," Vergil muttered and cursed Quirrell for taking those twenty points from him.

Dumbledore raised his hand. The room gradually fell silent. "There are all kinds of courage," Dumbledore was smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."

Vergil let out a sigh, Draco next to him looked absolutely horrified, the victory slipped out of their fingers…

"Which means," Dumbledore called over the storm of applause. Even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin. "We need a little change of decoration," he clapped his hands. In an instant, the green hangings became scarlet and the silver became gold; the huge Slytherin serpent vanished and a towering Gryffindor lion took its place.

"Well, whatever," Vergil leaned against the table. For the first time it was truly clear to him how much the Slytherin house was on one side while the other three were on the other one. The entire school was celebrating their downfall.

 _ **~X~**_

Vergil stood with Snape at the side of the train station. Kind's Cross was as crowded as always.

"Come on," there was only one meaning behind those words and he saw it in Snape's eyes. He'd spend the summer with Snape. He was going home in a way.

"Yes sir!" Vergil gave him a small salute and followed.

* * *

 _ **Philosopher's Stone – Finished**_

* * *

 _ **And that's it, leave a review and let me know what you think.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **Guest – Thank you.**_

 _ **josephguy217 – Thank you.**_

 _ **Badger10 – Thanks, while this chapter didn't move too far from the original version, aside from additional scenes I can tell you the next book is getting some very big changes.**_

 _ **Guest – And now it's back again, after… a long time.**_

 _ **Falcodude – Glad you do. As I mentioned there weren't that many changes in this particular chapter but I feel it's at least a bit better than the previous version if I can say so myself.**_

 _ **DepressedNinja75 – I've already answered the questions via PM so I'll just say thanks.**_

 _ **Lady Keiko Niwa – I completely agree with you, it is annoying and quite a hassle for me as well. Trust me, whenever I went back to a chapter I was like 'This again, great…' so as annoying as it is to the readers that found the story long ago it's even more of an annoyance for me. I do appreciate the critique though.**_

 _ **Guest – Thank you.**_


	5. Narcissism Incarnate

_**Book 2 – Chamber of Secrets**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 5 – Narcissism Incarnate**_

* * *

Gemma's eyes widened as the burning inferno in front of her began spreading. Her home, the place she spent eleven years of her life, the place where she played with her older brother, the place where their parents raised them was burning down. She could hear screams coming from inside; but she couldn't move. She could hear her heart drumming against her chest as the sweat, that was in no way related to the head, dripped down her skin. "No more, please no more," she dropped to her knees, pleading for mercy for the hundredth time that night.

Doors burst open and there he stood, right in the center of the inferno. His red eye focused on her, his wand nowhere to be seen. They must have disarmed him, but it was useless in the end.

"You should have told someone, Gemma," she looked away, anywhere but at the boy.

Vergil stepped forward, flames danced around him, maniacally destroying everything in their path. He raised his palm and the fire gathered around it; as it dropped down on her Gemma's eyes opened and she screamed as she sat up.

Frantically she looked around, searching for any sign of fire anywhere near her. Her breathing was slowly but surely going back to normal as she wiped the sweat off her forehead. It was another nightmare, another sleepless night, she was sure she'd go mad if she didn't go and purchase as much of the dreamless sleep potion as possible. Last night Vergil brought her house down with an earthquake, the night before he somehow caused a flood. When they were at Hogwarts she was sure he couldn't do anything, it would be too risky, but here, outside of her safety zone she was terrified.

 _ **~X~**_

Hermione woke up to the sound of an owl flying through her room. Though sleepy she couldn't stop a smile from appearing on her face. _'He sure is quick,_ ' well, she expected that much out of him. She stood up and took the letter from the owl and to make sure the owl stayed a bit longer she gave it a small snack. "Wait for a bit," she quickly went to the bathroom, freshened up and sat down at her table.

 _ **~X~**_

 _Hey, Hermione,_

 _I'm fine, bored, but fine. There's not much to do around here. How about you? Are you enjoying the break so far? I'll try to get some kind of job, newspaper delivery, or something, so I guess I have some plans for summer._

 _Uh, I'm not really sure what else to put here. Don't work too hard, we are on a break after all._

 _Vergil_

 _ **~X~**_

Well, aside from being a bit clumsy about it, it looked like he wanted to keep the exchange going. They didn't get to talk about it so Hermione was a bit unsure when she sent him the first letter yesterday. With a big smile on her face she took a piece of parchment and a quill.

 _ **~X~**_

 _Dear Vergil,_

 _I don't want to hear anything about working hard from someone that plans on getting a summer job. That being said I'm happy to be home, Hogwarts is great but I missed my parents a lot; it's really nice to spend time with them. We plan on going on a long vacation, still not sure where to, maybe France or somewhere similar. Do you think they'll let us see how the wizard society works over there? I'd love to see all the similarities and differences._

 _Anyway, make sure to write me when you get your job, I'd love to hear about it. I hope I'll hear back from you soon,_

 _Love from Hermione_

 _ **~X~**_

Hermione put her quill down and gave the freshly finished letter to the owl along with the pay it was supposed to receive. "Same place as last one," she scratched the bird's neck a bit and it flew out.

 _ **~X~**_

Cokeworth wasn't exactly the best place to live in, that much was clear to Vergil way back when he got there. But Snape seemed attached to the place for some reason and that was enough for Vergil to be fine with it as well.

The last year was a bit of a sudden disgrace when he had to accept charity from not only Snape, but Hogwarts as well, to buy books. This year he had other plans. And in a town like Cokeworth it wasn't that difficult to do a few odd jobs and make some money.

It was still quite early, but Vergil was in the kitchen, preparing eggs for breakfast. Making food wasn't really something he thought of learning properly before, but given the circumstances he kind of had to. Snape being Snape and all… The boy was quite far from calling himself a cook, but he could make the basics. He set two plates with eggs down, covered the other one and ate his portion. The other plate would wait for Snape who was busy with potions. Young cambion quickly learnt that Snape didn't like being disturbed during his potion making time.

Having finished his breakfast Vergil proceeded with his daily routine, going to the nearby newspaper stand.

He reached it and was greeted by a grumpy nod from the older man. A package with fifty newspapers awaited him; that was his way of earning some money, delivering the newspaper to a couple of streets in the town. It was about as profitable as he could get given his age. So two pounds per day; every day for a bit over two months.

As he went through the empty town finishing his task he had to grin. Given his appearance he also had to find some job that would make the contact with people as minimal as possible. Making early morning delivery a perfect job.

Then, one day the letter containing the books required for the second year arrived. On that day Vergil should have recognized the telltale signs of incoming disaster, he probably would have, had he known just a bit more about wizarding world, especially the modern side of it.

There were seven books written by some Lockhart guy. "We're getting a big fan of this man for a teacher, eh?" Vergil pointed out once he read the list.

"You have no idea," Vergil raised an eyebrow at that, confused as to what exactly Snape's words meant.

"Well, whatever. I've got 140 pounds; I think I should be able to manage," Vergil assumed, but it was more of a question as he looked at the potions master.

The man however pulled out twenty galleons. "Lockhart's books are expensive."

Vergil took a deep breath and leaned back against his chair; seventy days and he still needed Snape's help to get the money needed for books. "Next year I guess. When do I get going?"

"You'll use Floo Powder, on Wednesday," Snape responded, granting Vergil the permission to go and get the buying of books and everything else necessary on his own.

The existence of something like Floo Powder caused Vergil to raise his eyebrow, which didn't have the desired effect due to his bandages. "And why didn't we use it last year?" Vergil questioned, obviously confused.

"You are required to know more than - one way to get, into the Diagon Alley," it wasn't a requirement as in law, but rather a necessary knowledge in case it was needed.

Vergil nodded, accepting that reasoning, it did make sense.

Wednesday came and Snape passed a pot with Floo powder to Vergil.

"So I throw it into the flames, step in and say the location clearly?" Vergil went over the instructions Snape gave him.

"Correct."

Vergil threw the powder into the flames and it turned emerald green. It also towered over him giving him enough space to step into.

"Diagon Alley," he said the moment he stepped into the fire.

Next thing he knew he was in the Diagon Alley, feeling nauseous and sick but other than that fine. "I think I'm leaning more toward Leaky Cauldron," he muttered trying his best to hold his breakfast in. Shaking his head a bit he began walking through the crowded Diagon Alley. _'Here we go again.'_

It didn't take long for Vergil to reach Slug and Jiggers, a potion ingredients shop; he went in, bought a few things and then simply leaned against the wall. Judging by the Sun he wouldn't have to wait long and exactly ten minutes before their arranged meeting time Vergil spotted a mane of bushy brown hair.

She didn't change much, aside from growing just a bit it was still the same Hermione he remembered from nearly three months ago. "Hey," he felt the corners of his lips tugging upwards before he could even think of controlling the smile. Great, he couldn't even keep a moderately blank face.

Hermione didn't even try to hide her smile; she was definitely glad to see him. "It's so good to see you," and there it was, she hugged him, again.

Vergil awkwardly ignored the anxiousness caused by the hands around his neck and returned the gesture with one hand.

"Hermione raised an eyebrow as she pulled back. "It's an improvement, I guess," she slapped his chest jokingly with the back of her hand. "My parents would love to meet you," she studied his expression for a bit. "It'll be fine, I promise."

It wasn't going to be fine. Hermione's parents were muggles, which meant they were still new to this entire world. White haired kid with red eye, slit pupil and bandages wasn't going to be a normal sight, hell he was sticking out like an open wound even amongst all the witches and wizards. "I don't think that's a good idea," he tried to argue, but she was already on her way back to her parents.

"Everything will be fine," she was reassuring him and he guessed a bit of her confidence rubbed off on him. Maybe she properly prepared her parents. Maybe it would really be fine.

The moment two people, clearly feeling out of place saw them it was painfully obvious it wouldn't be fine.

Hermione's mother recoiled at the sight of him and her father, though not nearly as expressive seemed fairly distraught.

Hermione nervously looked between her parents and Vergil and tried to salvage the situation. "Mom, dad, this is Vergil, my classmate I've been telling you about."

Vergil lowered his head, he even turned slightly to his left to hide his eye. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to finish my shopping," he wasn't even going to wait for their responses, he just nodded to Hermione and as quickly as walking would allow left the Grangers.

About twenty minutes later Vergil entered the Gringotts Wizarding Bank, the place was filled with goblins and wizards, looking around he noticed a nearby goblin. "Say, where can I exchange money?" he asked, perhaps in a bit of a rude manner. He didn't like crowds so he didn't exactly care. Especially not after the previous encounter with humans.

"Go to Ragnok's office," the reply was spoken in an equally rude manner.

"Thanks," Vergil nodded and went toward the office goblin pointed him at.

It was easy to find, with the goblin's name being written on the doors, so he knocked and entered.

"Ragnok, I assume," Vergil greeted him with a subtle nod.

"Yes," the goblin replied.

"I'm here to exchange money. 140 pounds for 28 Galleons, 6 Sickles and 22 Knuts," Vergil cut to the point as he placed the money on the table.

Ragnok looked at him. "I know how much 140 pounds is," he spat and then proceeded to count the money. When he confirmed the money was real and that the amount said was the amount given he retrieved the sought money from somewhere. "Sign here and leave," Ragnok grumbled and gave Vergil the document and a quill.

Vergil put his signature on the paper and passed it back to the goblin. He took the money and left, that was one job done. Next stop, Flourish and Blotts, he just hoped it wouldn't be as crowded as last year.

In a twisted way his wish was granted. Flourish and Blotts wasn't as crowded as last year, the size of the crowd was way bigger this time around. And most of the people inside were females, most likely mothers of the students.

"Calmly, please, ladies… Don't push, there… mind the books, now," the harassed-looking wizard tried to control the crowd and Vergil felt pity for him.

' _GILDEROY LOCKHART_ _will be signing copies of his autobiography_ _MAGICAL ME_ _today 12:30P.M. to 4:30P.M.'_ he saw a sign that explained the situation fairly well.

"So that's why," Vergil realized, he even considered waiting for the crowd to clear but he didn't want to waste so much time. He found his way in through the crowd and slowly began collecting the books he needed. "5 Galleons for one book, ridiculous," he muttered under his breath when he saw that each of Lockhart's books was exactly what Snape said, expensive.

What he saw next would probably stay burnt into his mind. A man, most likely Lockhart, surrounded by large portraits of his own face all of which were winking and flashing people with pure white teeth. Lockhart himself was wearing blue robes matching his eyes and a pointed wizard's hat that was set at a jaunty angle on his wavy hair. If he wasn't surrounded by so many portraits of himself perhaps the man would look like a charismatic individual. Portraits pointed at a fairly possible solution, this man seemed like a narcissist. All that was left to see was if he was, in fact, a narcissist.

Suddenly Lockhart leapt to his feet. "It can't be Harry Potter?" he sounded excited.

The crowd began whispering excitedly as the man dove head first, forward and grabbed Potter's arm. The boy was pulled to the front and an applause so loud Vergil had to cover his ears erupted in the shop. Still, it was clear to the white haired boy that Potter wasn't having the time of his life, if the fact that his face was as red as a tomato was anything to go by.

"I somewhat pity the guy," Vergil said to himself as Lockhart finally let go of Potter's hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Lockhart said loudly, waving for quiet. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time! When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography; which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge-" the crowd applauded. "-He had no idea-" Lockhart continued, giving Potter a little shake. "-That he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, 'Magical Me'. He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September; I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

' _So that's what Snape was talking about... Please let him be a good teacher, please whatever deity exists in this world I'm not asking for too much, am I?'_ Vergil looked at the books he just purchased. He then looked at Lockhart. Then back at the books. The man was clearly capable of writing, so maybe, just maybe, he wasn't asking for too much.

"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" it was a voice Vergil could easily recognize and it was filled with jealousy. Draco's voice. Vergil looked up from the side and saw the sneering boy. "Famous Harry Potter." Draco put emphasis on 'famous'. "Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."

"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" a ginger girl, probably Weasley, given the fact that the three male Weasleys that attended the Hogwarts were there as well glared at Draco.

"Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend!" Draco drawled as Vergil made his way over. As the female Weasley went scarlet her brother and Hermione also fought their way over.

Vergil caught Hermione's glance and smirked. He mouthed leave-this-to-me and approached Draco before things could get out of hand.

"Oh, it's you," Weasley said as if seeing Draco was the least pleasant thing that could happen to him during the day. "Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?"

"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley," retorted Draco. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those."

At that Weasley went as red as his sister.

"Cut it out Draco," Vergil finally reached them.

Draco seemed genuinely surprised but a bit happy to see him. "Vergil. How come you didn't tell me you'd be here?"

"You didn't ask. Anyway cut it out, you're attracting too much attention," Vergil said, his red eye clashed with Draco's grey ones.

Weasley, on the other hand had enough and would have went toward Draco if he wasn't held back by Hermione and Potter.

"Ron!" They heard Mr. Weasley, struggling over with the twins. "What are you doing? It's too crowded in here, let's go outside."

"Well, well, well, Arthur Weasley," Vergil turned at the familiar voice of Lucius Malfoy, sneering at the older Weasley in the way his son would often do.

"Lucius," Mr. Weasley nodded coldly.

"Ah, hell no, let's go," Vergil pulled Draco away from the crowd and into the street.

"Vergil we shouldn't! Father will get mad when he finds out I left," Draco cried out, clearly on the verge of panicking.

"I'll take the blame, come on, let's get an ice-cream," Vergil led the blond boy down the street to the Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

"Yes?" the shop keeper froze when he saw Draco.

"Two chocolate ice-creams. Without any additions," Vergil stated and gave the man six Sickles.

"Hey-" Draco tried to complain.

"Enjoy simple things," Vergil cut him off.

Draco was mostly talk and nothing but talk, he was a bully and spoiled, but he wasn't up for open confrontation with someone like Vergil. When clashing with Vergil's dominant, blunt personality he was left with only one choice, to whine and complain, but he figured it was for nothing. "My father will hear about this," Draco grumbled.

"Go ahead and tell him," Vergil said and bit into his ice-cream."

"Shouldn't you lick it?" Draco asked as they sat on one of the benches near the shop.

"Does it taste differently?" Vergil questioned and bit off a part of the cone.

"No, not really. It's good," Draco muttered.

"See? And it's just a simple chocolate. Anyone can get it, pure-blood, half-blood, muggle born, half-breed, anyone. And it tastes the same for everyone," Vergil reasoned, he wasn't sure if it was going to work but he hoped that Draco, deep down, wasn't a bad kid. Just a bit misguided as far as Vergil was concerned.

"I bet Weasleys can't even imagine anything better," Draco sneered.

"But it feels better when you eat something with others. It's more fun, isn't it?" Vergil asked, Weasley's were a family and seeing Draco's reaction to his father made Vergil further realize that they weren't so different. "They are a family. Neither one of us can say we have that."

"I have a family," Draco sounded insulted.

"Why were you afraid then? Family is supposed to make you feel safe," Vergil pointed out. "You aren't stupid. Blood, status, when it comes down to it if you can't have a feeling of belonging somewhere it doesn't matter. And you can't feel like you belong if you have to force it of if you feel scare," the red eye turned to the Draco who seemed like he didn't have anything to say.

"You're wrong," he eventually said, he wasn't about to just abandon everything he was taught over one ice-cream.

"Leave then," the half devil suggested.

Yet Draco didn't leave. Not even when Lucius Malfoy showed up.

"Draco…!" Malfoy hissed, clearly holding back his frustration with his son.

Instinctively Draco leaned just a bit closer to Vergil.

"It was my fault," Vergil immediately got Malfoy's attention.

"Mr. Leonidas," Malfoy greeted him with an obviously faked smile.

"I assure you, Sir, that I am not in any way 'Mister', Leonidas, or Vergil will do," he wasn't stupid, he knew he had to play his cards right, he bowed his head slightly, enough to hide a subtle smirk from Malfoy but not from Draco.

Malfoy observed him, feeling slightly pleased with the situation he was in. "You said this was your fault. Could you explain that, Vergil?"

"Of course. I wanted to do a bit of catching up with Draco, we haven't seen each other for quite some time. You were in the middle of a conversation and I didn't want to bother you. I wasn't under impression that it would cause any trouble," Vergil looked directly into Malfoy's eyes as he said that and even though he couldn't see it, he was sure Draco was fairly surprised.

"No, of course not, I was merely worried about my son. I've heard a lot about you from Draco, perhaps you could visit us during Christmas break," Malfoy invited him.

"Sure, I'd be happy to," Vergil said. Slowly, slowly but surely he'd get Draco out of this mess.

"Good, now shall we go back to our homes? I assume you're staying with Severus," Malfoy guessed.

"Yes, I am," Vergil replied and he and Draco followed after Draco's father.

"You know, I really did tell my father a lot about you," Draco whispered making Vergil smirk a bit.

 _ **~X~**_

As the ride back to Hogwarts began Vergil once again found himself alone in a compartment, only this time he wasn't feeling sleepy. Now that he was actually going back to the school he couldn't help but feel somewhere between ease and discomfort.

Just as he was slowly starting to feel more like a human than a devil life gave him reminders of what he was. He could never be a human, but he didn't even consider reaching out to the devil powers he had over the course of summer vacation. He felt no need for them. He even began feeling more and more like this was the way things should have always been. And then he saw reactions of Hermione's parents, the thought alone caused a strange weight to come over him, a heavy feeling he couldn't properly describe.

He would always be a cambion.

He was brought out of his thoughts by knocking. It was Hermione. Vergil motioned for her to come in and she did.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" she asked, a bit timidly, perhaps she was uncomfortable after what happened with her parents.

"Why would I?" Vergil smirked slightly. "Shouldn't you be with Potter and Weasley though?"

"I can't find them; they surely didn't miss the train," Hermione seemed to be saying that more so to assure herself.

Vergil nodded. "Even if they did I'm sure things will work out."

She smiled and then looked to the side. "My parents wouldn't really like seeing me here."

The white haired boy knew deep down what she was talking about, but he didn't want to hear it just yet. "Why not?" he still asked.

Hermione looked at him, at his hair, his bandages and then at his red eye. "You look really strange to them," she took a deep breath. "They think you might be dangerous, you know," she trailed off. "with your eye and all that," with every word her voice turned more and more into a whisper and if it wasn't for his devil half Vergil likely wouldn't be able to hear the last part.

"Why are you here then? With me?" he wanted to hear it, no he needed to hear it.

Hermione looked at him incredulously. "Well first of all they are wrong and second of all we are friends."

Vergil wasn't sure what kept his voice calm or his feelings hidden, but somehow he didn't betray even a hint of how heavy his heart felt at the moment. "What if they aren't wrong? What if I really am someone dangerous, or if I become someone dangerous?"

Hermione shook her head. "That's not you, I know you. Sure, you're cold, a bit distant and maybe even a bit rude at times, but you're not some kind of monster."

Monster, that was actually exactly what he was to humans. An anomaly, a Halfling that shouldn't even exist to begin with. He abruptly stood up. "I need some air; I'll see you later."

Hermione raised an eyebrow but nodded. "Uh, sure, if you say so."

And apparently he got out in the worst possible moment, just as Gemma was walking by. Unlike Hermione she changed, a lot. She looked so tired, exhausted even and the moment she saw him there was a startlingly familiar flash of fear in her eyes. Just another reminder of what the reaction to his identity was.

Vergil lowered his head and went past the frozen prefect, he had no idea where he was going, but he just needed to get some space.

 _ **~X~**_

The next morning was moderately peaceful, the very first morning of the school year. Many owls had come to the Great Hall, some delivering letters, some forgotten things and one in particular brought forth a device that would turn moderately peaceful to extremely loud.

Vergil was in the middle of putting a bit of sausage into his mouth when the unpleasant surprise came.

"—STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE —"

Vergil bit down on his fork so hard it sent a shiver down his spine; he forced himself to swallow as the yells that shook the entire hall made his eardrums hurt.

"—LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY COULD BOTH HAVE DIED —ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED — YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME."

It seemed like the torture was over.

"The hell was that?" Vergil had to ask Draco who was sitting next to him.

"The Howler. I didn't know Weasleys could get any redder, just look at him." Draco relished in the moment.

Vergil sighed, perhaps there wasn't much he could do over the course of the next couple of years, but he'd still try to make small steps.

"Come on, let's just try to eat while our hearing is recovering." Vergil returned to his meal.

 _ **~X~**_

The first class of the year for Slytherin second years was Defense Against the Dark Arts, it was the moment of truth, would Lockhart be a narcissistic competent professor or merely a narcissistic professor.

Draco sat down next to Vergil who took the seat all the way back and took the books out.

Lockhart cleared his throat quite loudly before he reached out and took Parkinson's copy of 'Year with the Yeti', he held it up thus showing his portrait.

"Me," he winked. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!"

He received absolutely no response from his new students, none of them laughed. All he got were the blank stares from most of the boys and dreamy looks from most of the girls.

"I see you've all bought a complete set of my books; well done. I thought we'd start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about, just to check how well you've read them, how much you've taken in," with that he began handing out the test papers. "You have thirty minutes, start… now!"

Vergil felt somewhat pleased with the approach Lockhart was taking, maybe this wouldn't be so bad. And then he saw the questions. "Kill me, please," he couldn't hold it in, he simply, as subtly as he could, dropped his head down and pressed his forehead against it.

"This guy is ridiculous," Draco seemed to share the general sentiment.

"For once we completely agree," Vergil had to admit. "Well… Let's do this," he took the quill and began writing.

"You actually know the answers?!" Draco hissed at him as silently as he possibly could.

"Take a better look," Vergil smirked.

'What is Gilderoy's favorite color?'

And underneath was the answer: 'A color he likes the most.'

Draco snickered at that and Vergil kept smirking with a strange sense of satisfaction.

'What is Gilderoy's Lockhart's secret ambition?'

'It's a secret, how should I know? And if I know it's no longer a secret.'

'What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?'

'Something he did.'

The questions went on and on.

'How many times has Gilderoy Lockhart won Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award?'

'Too many times.'

On and on until question 54 which was: 'When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday and what would his ideal gift be?'

The answer being: 'Every year on the same day. The ideal gift being something he wants.'

A few minutes later Lockhart collected the papers and rifled through them in front of the class.

Vergil ignored the man's constant rumbling about each and every question.

"But Mr. Leonidas-" at the sound of his last name Vergil had to look at the man. "-I must say though none of your answers are correct you certainly got guts. Take five points for Slytherin for pure effort to answer the questions," he made a small pause. "Of course I am sure you simply couldn't phantom that I would teach you and now your excitement got the better of you," the man beamed at him and even winked.

Vergil's jaw dropped, much to Draco's amusement. "Kill me, please," he just wanted this to end, all of it. He'd take Quirrell any day over this, whatever this was.

"And now to business," Lockhart bent down behind his desk and lifted a large covered cage onto it. "Now, be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizard kind! You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm."

Vergil rolled his eyes. They were already facing horrors, of being taught by this man. On the other hand most of his classmates began taking this seriously.

"I must ask you not to scream," Lockhart requested in a low voice. "It might provoke them," he actually raised his voice, doing exactly what he told them not to.

The half devil was barely interested as the professor whipped off the cover.

"Yes. Freshly caught Cornish pixies," nope, there would be no surprises… "Devilish tricky little blighters they can be!" electric blue pixies about eight inches long with pointed faces, yes, so very dangerous.

"To you," Vergil's comment drew a smirk back to Draco's face.

"Right, then," Lockhart said loudly. "Let's see what you make of them!" and he opened the cage.

Pixies shot in every direction like rockets. They shot through the window, showering the back row with glass, others began ripping books and spraying the ink around. They would charge at students that barely had time to jump out of the way as they screamed. All in all the classroom turned into small hell.

"He's mental!" Draco shouted to Vergil.

"And this is good opportunity to get rid of this," He showed Draco a copy of 'Break with a Banshee' and tore it in half. "This is a mess," he chunked the half of the book at pixie that went after Bulstrode, thus successfully making it sway a bit.

"Good one, now keep going!" Lockhart praised him.

Vergil's eye twitched as he turned and saw a pixie flying near Lockhart. Smirking he threw the other half of the book right at the teacher, exactly when a pixie was flying next to Lockhart. "Oops, I missed," he let the sarcasm slip through his voice as the thrown half struck the teacher right in the face. Next to him Draco seemed to enjoy himself.

"That does it," Lockhart grew a bit frustrated. He pulled out his wand. " **Peskipiksi Pesternomi!** " he bellowed and absolutely nothing happened.

"So useless," Vergil muttered as Lockhart hid behind his portrait.

"Vergil…!" Draco cried out as three pixies flew right toward them.

" **Verdimillious,** " he shot the green sparks at the creatures, electrifying them in the process. "Hey, Professor! How about we deal with these pixies for let's say 50 points for Slytherin?" Vergil asked.

"Yes! Go ahead, I will happily present you with the points," Lockhart called out from his hiding spot.

"Wands out! Let's show these troublemakers what Slytherin is made of!" Vergil exclaimed, riling up his classmates into action.

"You should have asked for more," Zabini smirked at him and was the first one to comply with the white haired boy as Vergil struck a few of the pixies with a simple **Flipendo**.

"Let's keep the game fair, we don't want to shut down all the hopes other houses have immediately," Vergil smirked back.

"You really are a Slytherin," Draco commented and followed Vergil's example by jinxing a pixie near them.

A minute later the ten Slytherin students worked as one to deal with the remaining pixies.

"There you have it professor, now 50 points please," Vergil smirked.

"Yes, of course. Take well-earned 50 points for Slytherin," Lockhart happily awarded them with the points.

 _ **~X~**_

Following Defense the Slytherins had their taste of Herbology in their new year with Ravenclaws. When they entered the greenhouse they saw about twenty pairs of ear muffs.

"We'll be repotting Mandrakes today. Now, who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?" nope, no one. "I see, unfortunate. Well, Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative that is used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state. The Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is also, however, dangerous. Who can tell me why?"

When she received no response yet again she granted them with an answer once more. "The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it. Now, the Mandrakes we have here are still very young."

She pointed to a row of deep trays as she spoke. A hundred or so tufty little plants, purplish green in color, were growing in rows.

"Everyone take a pair of earmuffs," Professor Sprout instructed them. "When I tell you to put them on, make sure your ears are _completely_ covered," Professor Sprout made sure she put emphasis on 'completely'. "When it is safe to remove them, I will give you the thumbs-up. Right, earmuffs on."

The earmuffs completely shut out the sounds around Vergil and the boy figured he'd like one of these for his classes with Lockhart. And perhaps even for some other times as well.

Professor Sprout put the earmuffs on as well, rolled up the sleeves of her robes and grasped one of the plants firmly. Much to the half devil's surprise she pulled hard and instead of roots he saw a small, muddy kind of ugly baby. It had pale green, mottled skin and was crying.

Professor Sprout took a large plant pot from under the table and plunged the Mandrake into it, burying it in dark, damp compost until only the tufted leaves were visible. She dusted off her hands, gave them all the thumbs-up, and removed her own earmuffs.

The students followed her example and took the earmuffs off.

"As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill yet. However, they will knock you out for several hours, make sure your earmuffs are securely in place while you work. I will attract your attention when it is time to pack up. Now, four to a tray, there is a large supply of pots here, compost in the sacks over there, and be careful of the Venemous Tentacula, its teething," with the instructions being said Vergil was joined by Draco, Crabbe and Goyle and they began working.

In the end the task was harder than professor Sprout made it out to be. The Mandrakes weren't exactly clear on what they wanted, as they fought against being pulled out and pushed back into the ground.

"Make up your mind damn it," Vergil hissed at it as he pushed the squirming creature into the pot. It still kicked and flailed, it even gnashed its teeth making the task more difficult.

 _ **~X~**_

The fact that Slytherin house had almost 100 points on the first day left the students and Heads of other houses confused. Even with Hermione receiving a whopping 20 points in Herbology alone Gryffindor was still behind the Slytherin house.

"Ah, it was the second year class. They took my lesson to heart and made an excellent progress. Of course if anyone else was teaching them they surely wouldn't be able to deal with Cornish pixies the way they did," Lockhart bragged.

 _ **~X~**_

While other houses were baffled the Slytherins were celebrating.

"Leonidas! Come here!" David Travers, the newly appointed Prefect that Vergil nearly got into a fight last year called him.

Vergil got up and went to him; he was a bit shocked the fifth year student wanted to speak with him after last year but he guessed the small conflict was behind them.

"We heard what you did. Amazing," David smirked at him, looking proud that his house was doing great. Last year's injustice apparently fired them up to actually work for the House cup.

"Others are responsible as well, I initiated it, we all completed it," Vergil grinned. Nonetheless he, Draco and Zabini, the trio most responsible for bringing down the pixies were suddenly lifted into the air by older students.

"Whoa…!" Vergil yelped as his housemates cheered. Draco was clearly enjoying himself, Zabini certainly wasn't complaining and the white haired boy had to laugh. The cold air that was normally in the house felt warm during the relentless celebration. The lake above them added to the effect of calming water clashing with the students excited to the point of making their Head of the House come in to see what was going on.

Snape stood there, slightly taken aback by the sight in front of him. His presence didn't go unnoticed as Vergil grinned and waved at him.

The commotion stopped right away and the students calmed down, though they still looked happy. Vergil sat down with his legs crossed on the green carpeted floor.

Snape approached him and his pitch black eyes clashed with Vergil's red eye. The Potions master had never seen the boy grinning so brightly.

"I expect you all to continue the year, as you have started," the statement surprised the students further, Snape had never praised them like this, in fact this was about as direct of praise as they collectively got, ever.

"Yes Sir!" the entire house exclaimed.

 _ **~X~**_

A few days later Vergil was in the common room reading a book on potions when Draco marched in looking more furious than ever before.

"Jealous?! How dare he?! What would I even be jealous of? A foul scar right across my head?!" he ranted furiously.

With a string of insults that concerned the Gryffindor trio Vergil had to sigh. Someone just had to push the wrong buttons and make Draco's annoyance with the trio even more personal on his side.

Vergil closed his book and turned his attention to Draco. "Calm down. How about we take a walk? Just the two of us?" he offered.

Draco looked like he was one second away from hexing Vergil to next week.

"I'm sure I'm a better listener than your current company," Vergil motioned to Crabbe and Goyle.

Draco scoffed and nodded. "Fine then, follow me."

Normally Vergil would roll his eye at that, but this time he settled for a mock salute. "Aye, aye sir," he chuckled and followed after Draco.

Draco huffed the moment they began climbing up the stairs on their way outside. "Can you believe that little brat?! I'm jealous of Potter?! Come on, give me one good reason!"

Vergil stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Are you sure you want me to do that?" he teased.

"Like you can think of one good reason," Draco snarled and crossed his arms defensively.

"He's loved by most of the people here, even some Slytherins actually," thinking back, aside from that quidditch fiasco Gemma didn't have anything against Potter and some of the older students shared her sentiment. "He has good friends, while you're stuck with Crabbe and Goyle most of the time. He's playing that stupid sport despite the rules saying he shouldn't. Everyone seems to recognize him and maybe even worship him. Would you like me to go on?"

Draco glared and if looks could kill Vergil was sure he would be dead. "That – that's completely mental," he sounded fairly insulted.

"Still true though," Vergil smirked as Draco jokingly punched him on the arm. "That hurt," his voice was so even not even Crabbe and Goyle would believe him.

Draco snorted at that. "Not my fault you're built like a brick wall."

Vergil halted abruptly. "No I'm not."

Draco turned around, giving him an 'Are you serious?' kind of look. "Vergil. I've seen you in a T-shirt. You have muscles."

Vergil rolled his eye and scoffed at that. "It's not my fault I train every now and then."

 _ **~X~**_

Severus had seen many kids use knives in his classes; he himself used them quite often due to the nature of his job. But he had never seen anyone wield a knife the way Vergil did. It wasn't the way he held it, but rather the soundless way he sliced. The way he'd stop the blade right as it cut through whatever he was supposed to cut. It looked like it would make no difference if he was cutting on a wooden board on someone's neck.

He was precise and the raven haired wizard knew it was for one reason. The life in the realm of demons. A part of him wanted to take a look into the boy's mind; he would have if he didn't feel like the boy would talk if asked to. He knew Vergil trusted him, he knew the boy meant no harm and never once acted violently toward the students.

It would be a smart move. To learn more about the Halfling… Why he had the perfect mastery of his movement? Why did he unconsciously control the blade the way he did?

As Vergil added sliced bursting mushrooms into the cauldron and began steering clockwise Severus stood up. It was the first time he stood up during the process and Vergil immediately sent him a brief look.

"Is something wrong sir?" Vergil asked, sounding curious, but still concentrated on the task in front of him.

"No, nothing in particular," Severus replied. He moved, looking almost as if he was gliding through the dungeon they were in.

The potion turned blue and Vergil added salamander blood to the mixture. He switched the direction of the steering.

"I was wondering about something," Vergil began the conversation. He briefly glanced at Severus who had sat down on the chair in front of him. "It's actually a request," Vergil stated as his potion turned green.

Severus watched as he added crushed Wartcap powder and once again began steering clockwise. "And that would be?"

"Is there any book, _legit_ book," he emphasized the word 'legit'. "that is solely written about devils?"

Sudden curiosity about devils took Severus by surprise, though as usual he hid his emotions extremely well. "Why would you need it?" he replied with a question of his own.

"I'd like to know how much information you have on my father's kind," Vergil explained, and while sudden it did make sense.

"Is there anything, specific, you'd like to know about?" Severus asked.

"Are there any mentions of 'Kaiser'?"

And just for a fraction of a second Severus' eyes widened. A moment later his face went back to the emotionless mask, but his surprise remained. Asking about something that specific was suspicious, suspicious enough to inform Dumbledore of it, but not suspicious enough to not grant Vergil's request. As long as he was also present while Vergil read the book that is.

"It's in the Restricted Section of the library," he stood up and removed the unfinished potion before Vergil could even try to protest, he had a feeling the boy wasn't even planning on doing that. "On any, normal, occasion - I would not consider, giving you permission – however, you probably know enough as it is. Come, I shall personally escort you to the book."

"Thanks," Vergil grinned and quickly followed after the man.

 _ **~X~**_

Madam Pince wouldn't say a word about student going into the Restricted Section when accompanied by a teacher so there was no problem getting to the books Vergil was interested in. Though she did look a bit annoyed, scratch that, she was definitely irritated. Which made Vergil consider avoiding the library for at least a week.

He began looking over the book titles with Snape right by his side. There weren't many books on the topic but there he saw it, one specific book that made his heart skip a beat. One title he hoped he wouldn't see, but here, surrounded by thousands of books he knew… He probably knew the moment Snape showed genuine surprise.

'Rewera Kaiser'

Right there, in front of him. Slowly as if he hoped the book would perish if he dared to touch it, he pulled it toward him and looked at the ominous, demonic cover. The leather binder feeling under his fingertips was similar. Almost as if it was made out of demon skin. Somehow Vergil knew it was far from just a feeling.

'Devil Lion'

It puzzled Vergil to see that underneath the title.

"What can you tell me about this book?" Vergil asked.

"It's an old book. Translated from Greek scripts," Snape explained and while it didn't explain much it was something.

"Were the scripts intact?" Vergil asked, careful about the way his voice sounded.

"No, many, including Dumbledore, the Dark Lord and the powerful wizards of the past centuries believe some of the facts were lost in translation," the Potions master revealed.

"Do you mind if I read it here? On my own?" Vergil asked; it wasn't a thick book; in fact, it probably didn't have more than a hundred pages. Given the subject, it was surprising that it had this much material in it.

The human didn't offer any verbal confirmation, he just walked away and Vergil went to sit down on his usual spot. He had a feeling Snape was still watching him, but regardless, this sort of worked. He opened the book and sighed. It was written eight centuries ago, or at least translated…

 _'When one first looked at the demon there were frightening similarities between him and us…'_ Alright, so this was written before the distinction between demons and devils was clear to humans. _'He had a human appearance, with a few differences. The eyes glittered of gold…'_ Apparent translation error; The color of the eyes was distinctive yellow, perhaps a bit close to the shade of gold but leaning more toward pure yellow.

 _'The hair, strangely pure, lighter than that of a human could get. Lighter than any other demon hair I had seen.'_ It wasn't specified, but it was clear to Vergil that the book, though filled with some translation errors was quite dangerous to him.

 _'I dared to approach him, to approach the carnage he stood amidst with a blood soaked blade in his hand. My wand was in my hand, but I was alone, perhaps it would be useless. I was still pulled toward the demon; he held a sense of authority I could never imagine in demon. Almost aristocratic, royal to a certain extent.'_

A few pages later Vergil's heart skipped a beat.

 _'I asked him of his name and the answer was short… 'Rewera Kaiser', he said that's how his kind referred to him. It wasn't the only term he offered me. 'Vrag', a word that meant 'devil'…'_ So this was the first time the distinction was made. But the writer was wrong. The meaning of the word aside. Vrag was a name, name that Vergil recognized. The first Rewera Kaiser to come in contact with humans.

 _'He went on to speak about himself. He was a lion, a part of a family that served right under the demon ruler from the start.'_

With that Vergil closed the book. There it was the translation error that brought relief back into his mind. _'A lion'._ There was nothing to worry about.

* * *

 _ **Well, this chapter is a bit shorter than usual, but I think this might be a good place to cut things off.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **Saintsrow10 – Ah, Vergil and Ron, well it's a bit complicated. They certainly aren't going to be best friends; I can tell you that much. Vergil's relationship with Hermione certainly isn't going to help them out at the start either. I'm not going to spoil that part, so you'll have to wait and see.**_

 _ **Guest – Thank you.**_

 _ **Guest – I guess I'll agree that it can come off as lazy, having one OC for all OC stories, but I guess it works for some and doesn't work for others. It certainly makes some parts of writing easier.**_

 _ **Falcodude – Thank you, here's the start.**_

 _ **JESSICADELGADO40782 – Thank you.**_

 _ **namedarknss – Thank you.**_

 _ **Guest – Well, hopefully I won't quit again.**_

 _ **Bajor10 – Thanks. It's not going to stop, since you know, they are supposed to end up as a couple. She will, maybe sooner, maybe later, but she will.**_


	6. Ominous Message

_**Chapter 6 – Ominous Message**_

* * *

Smell of old parchment welcomed her and she took a deep breath; taking in the welcoming scents of library. It was one place where Hermione could always turn to when in doubt. Even if she was on her own more often than not she was fine with it. Harry and Ron were with her when they needed to be, but they'd rather spend their free time elsewhere.

Vergil on the other hand… she was yet to properly talk to him ever since the train ride. Occasional glances here and there, a few words in the passing…

' _No one asked your opinion, you filthy little mudblood!'_

Malfoy's words still echoed in her mind. It's been hours since he said that, she had been reassured by her friends that what he said was rubbish, but still. There was one friend she had in Slytherin, one friend that seemed to spend more time with Malfoy than he did last year.

Did Vergil think she was lesser than him as well? They never really talked about Vergil's family, but she just sort of assumed he was at least half-blood.

"-ione. Earth to Hermione!"

She was jostled from her thoughts and jumped up from her seat.

"Are you trying to jump out of your skin? Relax, it's just me," voice on her right spoke, and she could hear the teasing smirk on his face. Vergil. Of course he'd show up when she was actually thinking about him. The smirk was indeed there, but it quickly morphed into a smile when she huffed in annoyance.

"Don't scare me like that," Hermione sighed and sat back down.

Only to abruptly move away from the table when a small red and gold box was tossed in front of her.

"Happy birthday Hermione," the smile was still there and it widened a bit when she just looked at him, not sure whether to be more shocked he actually remembered her birthday, or that he actually got her something, or that he gave it to her as if he was doing a chore.

"Thanks," she wasn't sure what else she could say before she stood up and hugged the Slytherin.

"Don't mention it," Vergil returned the hug, though it was still a stiff kind of hug, like he either didn't like getting hugged by her or just wasn't used to hugs. "I wanted to get you a book but I really didn't want to risk getting you something you already had," his voice was strangely apologetic and soft as he said that and she knew he just wasn't all that used to hugs.

Hermione released his from her grip and they both sat down.

"So, what's on your mind?" Vergil's question caught her off guard. "Your book isn't even open yet," he pointed out as if to explain himself.

"Oh," Hermione looked to the side. "It's nothing," she lied. How could she tell him Malfoy upset her and actually expect him to be on her side.

Vergil placed a hand on her shoulder, something he almost never did. He seemed to evade any unnecessary physical contact so this was unusual to say the least. "Hermione, what happened?"

He was gentle yet firm in his request and she decided to just say it. It would clear up any doubts she had about Vergil as well. "Draco called me a mudblood."

Vergil leaned back against his chair and let out a long sigh. He was glaring at the ceiling and Hermione guessed he was processing the information thoroughly. "Damn spoiled jerk," he finally spoke up, obviously not pleased with his fellow Slytherin. He sighed again and turned his head to look at Hermione. "Don't let it bother you; I know he means it and I know he's been a jerk to you, but don't think about it."

Hermione remembered how last year Vergil looked read to punch Ron for much less, now that it was Draco he wasn't so eager to jump to her defense. "He's still your friend," she accused, silently asking if Vergil agreed with Draco.

That red eye widened slightly. "That doesn't mean we share same ideas," he pointed out. "Look, Draco is spoiled and now he is no longer in the center of attention. He is jealous and his ego is hurt, so he lashes out. I'm not defending him; I just understand that it's not easy to let go of something you've been taught to believe in for over a decade."

She frowned at that. He was definitely defending Draco. There was no other way around it. "You're definitely defending him. Vergil, he's a bully-"

"And my housemate; surely you don't expect me to march up to Draco and beat him up over a couple of insults-"

He was supposed to be her friend; someone she could turn to. "You sure didn't have a problem threatening to punch Ron last year," she barely managed to stop herself from shouting, annoyed at Vergil's attitude.

Vergil threw his arms up in frustration. "So you would turn your entire house against you if Potter insulted me?"

She leaned closer, glaring at him. "Harry would never do that and even if he did I would defend you," she was on the verge of shouting at him. They were less than a foot away from one another when Vergil abruptly stood up.

"Well, you're a better person than, well done," he just began walking away, just like that.

Hermione stood up, she wasn't about to let him walk away from her like that. "Don't just leave like that," she demanded.

"There's nothing else to talk about, I'm not going to change my mind," he replied, his voice complete opposite of soft and gentle tone he had at the start. And he was fast, fast enough to leave her behind without running.

 _ **~X~**_

She'd defend him. Vergil huffed, now that was rich. Yeah, turning entire house against her is exactly what she would do. Right, that was as true as Vergil being a human without any devil blood in him. "Serpent fang," he grumbled the password and entered the Slytherin common room. And there he was, Draco.

Vergil took a deep breath and walked over to Draco, Crabbe and Goyle weren't with him, they got detention, unsurprisingly.

Draco noticed him before he got halfway through the common room. "There you are! Come on, I've got to tell you about quidditch practice," judging by the grin on his face he was way too enthusiastic for Vergil to just refuse.

Might as well roll with it. "Don't miss any details," Vergil had no interest in that sport but Draco was passionate about it so sure, why not have a chat about it.

"Look, you have to see it for yourself, those Nimbus 2001s are a masterpiece! I've never had a broom that fast and it's incredible how smooth changing directions is!" he quickly moved his hand from side to side and in different directions to illustrate his point and the spark in his eyes was undeniable. "We're winning the house cup and you've got to come see the games, you'll love it!"

Vergil grinned a bit. "Fine, I'll give it a shot and come to the first match," he promised.

Draco's eyes widened slightly at that. "Really?"

Vergil chuckled at that. "Yeah, of course I will," with that reassurance it was obvious Draco was happy.

"Great, but I haven't told you everything," his grin widened. "Here's the funny part though, Weasley tried to curse me and it backfired! I bet he's still vomiting slugs!" Draco began laughing at the mere thoughts of Weasley on the ground vomiting slugs all over himself.

"Wait why?" Vergil had a suspicion it had something to do with Draco calling Hermione a mudblood, but he still wanted to hear it from Draco.

Draco stopped laughing. "Know-it-all Granger believes I bought my way into the team, so I told her no one cares about an opinion of a filthy mudblood."

Well, that much he could have guessed. Still, Vergil rolled his eye at that. "Mudblood? That's about as imaginative as describing rain as wet," he commented, it was obvious what the insult meant, someone with mud for blood, dirty blood. It was an infuriating insult, sure, but it wasn't his place to interfere in whatever was going on between Draco and Hermione or her friends. As long as no one was in danger it was fine by Vergil.

"Those mudbloods don't deserve anything wittier," Draco argued.

"Hermione is my friend, you know that, right?" Vergil questioned, suddenly getting a lot more serious than before.

Draco scowled at that. "Well she shouldn't be; she's friends with Potter and Weasley and she's in Gryffindor. Not to mention she's a mudblood."

"I'm not going to tell you what to do or how to act, but just know that I don't like it. I mean what if my blood was dirty by your standards? Would you insult me as well?" Vergil questioned, trying hard to keep the balance between appealing to some less prejudice part of Draco, if it existed at the moment, and still keep the conversation relatively conflict free.

Draco raised an eyebrow at that. "Right, you don't know," he remembered. "Well, you're a Slytherin so we stick together. Don't worry though, mudbloods don't get sorted into Slytherin."

' _Maybe, but halflings do,'_ Vergil thought and he was sure Draco thought even less of half-breeds than he did of muggleborns. "Just some food for thought, I mean you never know."

Draco dismissed it. "I'm sure you wouldn't be sorted into Slytherin if you were a mudblood."

 _ **~X~**_

October started and with it came rain and more rain and even more rain. Most students were getting colds and going outside was something most people avoided if they had a chance. So it provided Vergil with the perfect opportunity to be on his own and not worry about others noticing him.

So as the rain poured down on him he stood in the shadow of a tree roughly a mile away from the castle and held Perun, his sword, above his head. Electricity was crackling around it. He swung his blade downwards with as much strength as he could muster and it created an electric aftershock that flew about ten feet before dissipating.

"Still weak," Vergil sighed, he looked down at Perun and proceeded to practice basic swings with it, no electricity, or darkness, just basic swings. An hour later his sword disappeared, and he took a couple of deep breaths, taking in the comforting feeling of cold drops hitting his skin. He even reached up for his bandages but decided against taking them off.

Finally, he went back to the castle and the moment he was out of the rain he let a surge of electricity course through his body and dry him. It was as if he never went into the rain and no one could see the electricity drying him.

 _ **~X~**_

Something was out of place. Whatever was going on it just felt wrong. It was too bright, and Vergil struggled to open his eye. He tried to put his hand between the annoying light and his eye. He was sensitive to bright lights; such was the nature of darkness devils. "Turn that damn thing off," he pretty much demanded.

"Finally, I thought I would never wake you up," Draco's kind of annoyed but at the same time very slightly amused voice was the only clue Vergil needed to guess who was behind the tormenting light at the tip of a wand.

"What's going on?" Vergil asked, now feeling much better, though he still blinked a few times to get the image of light out of his mind.

"What do you mean? It's 23rd, it's your birthday," Draco reminded him incredulously.

It dawned on Vergil that it indeed was his birthday and that he actually managed to forget it for the time being. "Oh, I kinda forgot."

Draco smirked. "I figured as much. Here, I figured you should hide it and keep it a secret," Draco handed him a package obviously containing a book.

"Thanks," Vergil was too surprised to really offer a proper 'thank you'. Vergil took his own wand and muttered " **Lumos** ," he didn't want his ability to see in the dark to be out on a display. What he saw shocked him to say the least. "Moste Potente Potions?" he read incredulously, it was a book from restricted section in the library and for a good reason. "How the- how did you get this? I mean thanks, but how? Why?"

Draco sat down on Vergil's bed, laughing as quietly as he could in order to avoid waking up anyone else. "My father got it and sent it here. We're friends, I figured you'd like it," he replied.

"I love it, but this is… You're a bit of a lunatic, you know that?" Vergil chuckled, not entirely sure what else to say.

"Just don't let professor Snape find it, I bet he'll be mad," Draco whispered with a slight smirk on his face.

Vergil snickered at that. "Yeah, no kidding," he looked Draco in the eyes and smiled. "Really, thank you."

"Don't mention it."

 _ **~X~**_

Halloween came by, which meant the feast. Unfortunately, Hogwarts seemed to have a tradition of peace being disrupted on Halloween. This time though it was after the feast, while students were going back from it. The chatter, the bustle, the noise died suddenly as the people in front spotted the hanging cat, Mrs. Norris, in the corridor. Furthermore, Vergil saw Hermione, Potter and Weasley were there, all alone.

Vergil looked at the cat from the side and then noticed writing on the wall illuminated by the torches.

'THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE'

From where he stood it looked red as blood, but if it was blood, and more importantly that much blood he'd be able to smell it due to his devil half. ' _Paint? Maybe? Definitely not blood_ ,' he figured.

"Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!" Draco's claim broke the silence and snapped Vergil out of his thoughts. Draco pushed to the front of the crowd. He was grinning at the sight of the immobile cat.

His shout was probably what attracted Filch, the caretaker. "What's going on here? What's going on?" And then he saw her, his cat. He fell back, clutching his face in horror. "My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" he shrieked.

For once Vergil pitied the caretaker, if there was one thing everyone knew Filch loved, and it was probably the only thing he loved, it was his cat. Not even watching the caretaker accusing Potter of murdering the cat and even promising to kill Potter because of it lessened the pity. Vergil probably would have been way worse.

Vergil sighed and took another look at the petrified cat before turning around and leaving. It was too crowded and he figured he'd just head to the dungeons. He did keep thinking about what Draco said though. His housemate knew something; he was sure of it. What he failed to notice though, was Gemma watching him carefully.

 _ **~X~**_

Gemma loved quidditch, she was rubbish at it, but she loved watching it. So even when the weather wasn't the nicest she never missed a match, even if Slytherin wasn't playing. This time though, Slytherin was playing and against Gryffindor no less. What did surprise her was seeing familiar white hair where other second year Slytherins were.

"Vergil?" she said his name, surprise heavily outweighing any fear, he never showed interest in quidditch. And then it hit her as she looked at their team. Of course he'd be in the crowd if Draco was playing. She frowned, was he really that bad? Just because he wasn't fully human?

Madam Hooch blew her whistle and fourteen players rose up to the sky.

"We're winning this," Russell, her friend, declared, just as confident as she was in the victory.

"Hard not to with those Nimbus 2001s," she smirked lightly, but the game was already looking strange.

Potter seemed to be targeted by one of the Bludgers and that forced Weasley twins to protect him. With them out of the way and with the speed of new brooms Slytherin quickly took lead and just kept going. Within minutes they were leading sixty points to zero and in all that time Bludger kept targeting Potter and no one else.

"It's strange," she muttered. Focusing on the heavy ball.

"Yeah, something's definitely not right. You don't think some of our guys tampered with it?" Russell pondered.

Gemma shook her head. "No way, that would be too obvious."

Gryffindor team asked for a time-out which resulted in Weasley twins leaving Potter on his own. "That's mental!" Gemma shouted, Gryffindor or not she didn't want anyone to get seriously hurt playing Quidditch.

Russell on the other hand whistled. "Potter's got some balls," he sounded way too impressed for Gemma's liking.

"Language Russ," she berated him as Potter zigzagged and spiraled around the field dodging the Bludger. She looked at Draco and her eyebrow twitched. "Draco is being an idiot…"

Russell gasped when he realized what she saw. "That little, he's so focused on Potter he can't see Snitch right next to his head."

What followed next was the downright stupidest way to lose a match. Potter got hit and he dived for the Snitch, while it was still next to Draco and of course Potter caught it. Why wouldn't he? He wasn't the one so caught up in making fun of the other seeker.

 _ **~X~**_

It was the worst day of his life by far. He made an embarrassment of himself in front of entire school by letting Potter get the Snitch that was right next to him. He cost his house an entire match. He got yelled at, was scolded and was being ignored by most of his house even though he spent half the night in the common room. The ones that didn't ignore him, well they didn't care in the first place so he was on his own.

At the moment he was acting all busy by pretending to flip through some textbook he randomly picked up.

"How's the first taste of proper defeat?" Vergil sat down to his right and leaned back against the sofa. His tone was neutral, but the question still annoyed Draco.

"Leave me alone Vergil," he muttered, refusing to look at his fellow Slytherin.

"Yeah, that really wasn't a good way to start a conversation," Vergil admitted and from the corner of his eye Draco could see he was focusing on the water above them. For some reason Vergil often did that. "You failed, so what? Tell me though, what do you do now?"

Draco raised an eyebrow, confused by what Vergil meant.

"Are you going to keep sulking over one mistake or are you going to get back to your feet and improve?" Vergil elaborated.

He had a point. It really couldn't get worse than this so it could only get better. "I'll show Potter next time."

Vergil smirked at that. "Why wait? You could have Potter squirm as soon as tomorrow."

That definitely got Draco's attention and he leaned in closer. "Get him into trouble?"

Vergil chuckled at that. "No, that's a passing moment of annoyance at best," but he wasn't saying anything else.

"Insult him and his friends?" Draco guessed again.

"Nope," he made a small pause and just when Draco was about to press him for answer he gave it to him. "Be better than him."

That was ridiculous. "Huh?"

"Think about it. Potter hates you as much as you hate him, so he likes being better than you, at quidditch, at magic, in classes. So be better than him; he's about as sensitive to detention and bullying as rock is to paper," it made sense, it really did.

"That'll get under his skin, you're brilliant Vergil!" Draco's mood was definitely improved.

"And don't rub it in his face, let others do it. Just focus on being better," Vergil stood up and offered Draco his hand. "And we could start now by going upstairs and practicing some spells."

Draco was definitely liking this side of Vergil and the idea of being acknowledged as better than Potter was definitely appealing.

 _ **~X~**_

Another attack, and this time the victim was a student. Gemma sat in the corner of the common room, separate from most of the students. This was bad and it didn't help that there was someone in her house that maybe could be a danger to others.

"Sickle for your thought?" Russell came up to her.

Gemma sighed. "I have some suspicions about those attacks," she muttered, barely loudly enough for his to hear.

His brown eyes widened and she offered him a small smile. "Who?"

She took a deep breath. "Vergil," the moment she actually said it something told her she was probably wrong; and skeptical look on Russell's face wasn't helping her shake that feeling off.

"Same Vergil you've spent a lot of time with last year?" he inquired and she nodded. "Isn't it time for you to tell me what happened between you two? You took instant liking to the kid and then out of blue you avoid him like a plague," he pointed out and not for the first time. "I actually feel sorry for the kid."

Gemma looked away, refusing to say a word. How was she supposed to trust someone who was half-devil? She needed to tell Dumbledore. "Sorry, I've got to go," she mumbled and went to her dormitory to write a letter for the headmaster.

 _ **~X~**_

Accusing a student, especially one that was in her own house, was a very serious statement to make. One that caused Gemma to be in Dumbledore's office mere hours after her chat with Russell. She was so certain Vergil was to blame for the attack, but now that she was actually supposed to say it her evidence felt circumstantial at best.

"Miss Farley, could you explain why you believe Mr. Leonidas is responsible for attack on Mrs. Norris?" Dumbledore's voice was calm, soothing to her and it offered her comfort she didn't realize she needed.

"Vergil, he's," she took a deep breath, steading her heartbeat and gathering courage to finally say it. "He's a cambion, a half-devil," there was no reaction, Dumbledore didn't show any signs of surprise. ' _No_ …' her heart sank as the most horrible realization came to her mind. "Headmaster you… you know, don't you?"

Dumbledore sighed, it wasn't tired sigh, she wouldn't associate it with any similar cause. Rather it was merely a small expression of a man understanding the task ahead of him. To explain why he knew he had a dangerous creature in his school. "I've known even before Mr. Leonidas arrived at Hogwarts. He has a certain fondness for you, Miss Farley."

Gemma's eyes widened. "Vergil? That's impossible! I- I mean he is a devil!" there was no way that was true.

Dumbledore smiled slightly, as if he expected her reaction. "He most certainly is; but I assure you Miss Farley that he hasn't done anything to hurt another student. He's not even aware of consequences of such actions."

Any arguments she had about punishments Vergil would receive for going out of line if caught were immediately shut down by that realization. If it was truly the case than Vergil wasn't restraining himself. "But if not even you can help Mrs. Norris than it can't be something a human can cause, right? Vergil certainly has the potential to do it!"

Dumbledore nodded. "Devils, at least some of them, could theoretically petrify someone. However, this kind off petrification isn't something Mr. Leonidas could do even if he had the necessary earth soul to do so. You see Mr. Leonidas has control over lightning and darkness, neither of which can petrify." he explained and for the first time Gemma knew for sure what kind of powers Vergil could use.

Gemma leaned back into her chair and took her eyes off headmaster for a few moments, taking in the office. The sorting hat was there, and she remembered how happy she was when the kid she met on the train got sorted into Slytherin. "Are you sure? That Vergil isn't dangerous?"

If only she looked back at Dumbledore she would have noticed his eyes twinkling with something she would only associate as knowing something she didn't. "I'd very much like it if you'd answer that question to me, Miss Farley."

The statement puzzled her. How could she know? She'd been having nightmares for months now. A few minutes ago her answer would be obvious. Now there was a seed of doubt, she was feeling like she made a mistake, came to a conclusion without taking everything into consideration. "He's a half-devil. I- I don't know how to feel."

Dumbledore nodded. "That he is. But he is also a half-human; wouldn't you agree?"

Gemma's eyes widened. All this time she was so concentrated on Vergil's devil half that she forgot it was just that, a half.

"Ah, it's about time for dinner, off you go Miss Farley, I'm sure your friends are waiting for you," Dumbledore's words were merely half-registered as Gemma slowly got up, offered a brief nod and a word of thanks for the headmaster's time before she left.

 _ **~X~**_

Vergil woke up to the whispers coming from… everywhere around him really. As he slowly opened his eye he noticed a hand mere inches away from his bandages. In an abrupt lunge to the side he collided with Zabini and stumbled to the floor. "What the actual fuck Draco?!" he yelled when he realized his best friend tried to take his bandages off.

"That's my line Leonidas! You hit like a truck!" Zabini whined next to him. He was lying on the ground, rubbing his left side.

"I told you he'd wake up," Nott hissed at Draco who was having a sheepish grin on his face.

"Well he wouldn't have if Crabbe and Goyle weren't so worried he'd wake up," Draco rubbed the back of his head.

"He was the louder one!" Crabbe quickly pointed at Goyle.

"What? No you were!" Goyle was quick to defend himself.

"Thanks you two," Vergil rolled his eye, happy that he somehow woke up just in time. And it probably did have something to do with Crabbe and Goyle whispering. He did still glare at Draco. "You do understand I wear this for a reason, right?" he jerked his thumb towards the bandages and got back up to his feet.

Draco actually had the decency to look away in embarrassment. "We were just curious. Sorry, Vergil."

Vergil sighed, his annoyance dissipating slightly. "Just don't try this again."

"I know I won't," Zabini muttered, now just sitting on the floor.

"Oh, quit whining," Vergil smirked and offered him his hand.

"Easy for you to say, it's like you're built out of bricks or something," though he said that Zabini did accept Vergil's hand.

Nott surprisingly chuckled at that. "I'm just glad he didn't get up on my side."

Before anyone could say anything else Bulstrode came in. "Guys, a student got petrified."

Vergil looked around the room. Crabbe and Goyle were indifferent, mostly waiting for Draco's reaction. Nott was indifferent for different reason; he just didn't care. Draco on the other hand was grinning. Finally, Vergil looked at Zabini, and for the first time he saw a tiny bit of worry in Zabini's eyes.

"Not good," Zabini whispered, barely loud enough for Vergil to hear.

"Damn it," Vergil cursed and picked up his robes. Whatever attacked Filch's cat wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

* * *

 _ **And that's a chapter I don't think you ever expected to see pop up. Yeah, it happened. Now, I do need to point out that I've gone through a bit of a redesign as far as Demon World is concerned and the only change worth noting in removal of Vergil helping Gemma about her essay.**_

 _ **Also this chapter, man it was difficult to write. I've had quite a big break from writing this story and writing in general and original story was bare bones in this part. So you can imagine how slow my progress was on this chapter.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **TragicFiction – Uh, yeah…**_

 _ **Guest – Well, thanks for the compliment. In a very long process and I still wouldn't confidently agree with the idea that he is unique.**_

 _ **Badger12 – And now they kind of got into an argument.**_

 _ **Zovc-Y – She's getting there, slowly but surely.**_

 _ **Guest – Thanks.**_

 _ **Guest – Yeah, not exactly soon.**_

 _ **Sainsrow10 – Thanks for review.**_

 _ **Oliviaa Rose – Thank you, I'm glad you liked it.**_

 _ **Gabriel – Thank you for giving the story a try. I understand it's not for everyone, and thank you for pointing out the flaws. I appreciate it.**_

 _ **Guest – Not soon, but here it is.**_

 _ **Batcat871 – Same response as above.**_

 _ **muhamed3871 – Well, here's the sixth chapter.**_


	7. Dueling Club

_**Chapter 7 – Dueling Club**_

* * *

The entire frenzy got the students into exchanging talismans, protective devices and what not. As far as Vergil was concerned it was useless, but as long as it calmed the panicking students down even if only a bit it wasn't too bad. It was during one of his strolls to the Great Hall that he saw Neville.

"Hey," Vergil raised his hand to a shoulder level as he grinned at the boy.

"H-Hello," Neville was still as timid as he was when they first met.

"You sure armed yourself," Vergil said as he noticed a green onion, purple crystal and a rotting newt tail.

"Everyone known I'm almost a Squib," Neville muttered, looking to the side as he did so.

"You know, if it was that easy to get protected surely some of the professors would have told us," Vergil pointed out with a good natured, though small, smile on his face.

"Well, yeah, but… you know, precaution," the boy seemed embarrassed.

"Right. Better safe than sorry," Vergil kind of had a soft spot for the boy, he wasn't sure why, he just did.

"Yeah. Say, Vergil?" Neville waited for Vergil to correct him.

Vergil realized Neville still expected him to say something like 'Leonidas, not Vergil,' or whatever similar to that. "Hmm?" the correction never came though and that gave the Gryffindor a bit of will to continue.

"Are you going to the Great Hall as well?" he asked as they passed by a group of Ravenclaw students.

"Yeah. Want to tag along?" Vergil invited him.

"I'd like that," Neville mumbled and suddenly found floor to be much more interesting.

"Loosen up a bit. Just because we're in different houses it doesn't mean I'm against talking to you," Vergil assured him.

"You mean it?" the question slightly took Vergil aback.

Why wouldn't he mean it? "Of course," he still confirmed it as they approached the Great Hall; it was already half full as students ate their breakfast.

"I'll see you later than," Neville still didn't meet Vergil's eye but the Halfling still grinned.

"Yeah," they went to their respective house tables and Vergil sat down on his usual spot next to Draco.

"Seriously Vergil, first Granger now Longbottom?" Draco immediately hissed.

"Good morning to you too. And yes, I don't see anything wrong with that," Vergil said as he poured water into his cup. He wasn't going to touch pumpkin juice, no matter how hard he tried he just didn't like the taste.

"She's a Mudblood and he's brainless," Draco expressed his thoughts on the two.

"Hermione is also my friend and Neville is a good person," that was about all Vergil felt he needed to say on the matter.

"Mate, you've got a fascination with Gryffindors and it's got to stop," Zabini commented making Vergil stop just before he brought a piece of bacon to his mouth.

Vergil rolled his eye at that. "There's life after Hogwarts, you know? What's wrong with having friends that aren't green and silver?"

Draco looked at him like he had grown a second head. "You do know they are Potter's friends, right?"

"And that Granger is a mudblood," Zabini added.

Vergil was feeling a headache slowly starting. "Don't care," he looked towards Hermione. "Especially when it comes to her, so," he turned to Draco, "do me a favor and stop insulting her for no reason."

Red eye clashed with grey eyes, for a moment those who were paying attention to the two thought a fight would break out. It was the first time Vergil openly challenged Draco about the way he insulted Hermione. The tension was slowly getting higher and it looked like Draco was searching for something in Vergil's eye.

"Why care so much about her? You are a Slytherin, that's not how you're supposed to act," Draco demanded, his voice just a tiny bit shaky, insecure and only Vergil picked it up.

Vergil reached up and touched his bandages. "I don't want to lose someone I care about ever again. So I'm going to do all I can to stop whoever is behind these attacks," he already lost his people, his father's kind, he couldn't lose someone else, not this quickly.

Tension seemed to drop a bit as silence took its place. What would follow over the next few days would be the exaggerated story of what Vergil said. Stories that went as far as saying he took his bandages of and showed them he was missing half of his face. It all remained within the Slytherin house, but the warped version of the story spread like wildfire.

Draco however never responded and Vergil never gave him any indication he wanted an answer. At that moment he just turned back to his breakfast and began eating.

 _ **~X~**_

Hermione's heart was racing like she just finished sprinting from King's Cross all the way to Hogwarts. This was a bad idea, a very, very bad, against the rules in more ways than she could count, idea. What if it didn't work, what if professor Snape saw her, what if someone else saw her. But who could? They'll all be distracted, right?

She stirred her potion and as subtly as she could glanced at the Slytherins. It would have to work. Surely none of them would pay attention to professor Snape's cabinet. _'All right, Hermione, remember just the bicorn horn and the boomslang skin. That's all we need. Nothing else…_ '

Professor Snape turned his attention to Neville and Hermione saw Harry looking at her, this was their chance. Taking a deep breath she nodded and time seemed to slow down as Harry ducked behind his cauldron. In a few seconds she would need to act. Fred's Filibuster firework fizzed and sputtered as Harry threw it right into Goyle's cauldron. The potion exploded, and Hermione took another deep breath before slipping into professor's office.

She heard professor Snape yelling at the students as she began looking around. She didn't have time, quickly scanning the room she grabbed the bicorn horn and the boomslang skin, stuffed it under her robes and sneaked out of the office. She did it. She actually did it just as about half of the class lumbered up to professor Snape's desk. Two students that were supposed to be up in the front of the row were missing. And her eyes widened in slight fear when she realized that Vergil and Draco weren't hit by the potion. ' _Of course he somehow reacted in time_ ,' Hermione closed her eyes and hoped the white haired Slytherin didn't notice her.

"If I ever find out who threw this," professor Snape whispered, but it felt like he was yelling at the top of his voice to Hermione, "I shall make sure that person is expelled," oh he was definitely going to keep that promise.

Yet no one said a thing, not even Vergil. Maybe he didn't notice her after all.

Ten minutes passed and the bell rang; for the first time in her life Hermione was glad to hear it. She got out of the classroom and quickly made her way to Myrtle's bathroom. Hastily she threw the missing ingredients into the cauldron and began stirring. It worked out, everything was fine. No one caught them, no one knew. "It'll be ready in two weeks," she was happy, not just because of how well things turned out to be but also how close the day they would know for sure who the identity of the heir of Slytherin was.

"What will?"

Her heart stopped. No way. She must be hearing things; she must be paranoid. They locked the door, right?

"Leonidas?!" Ron jumped back, nearly bumping into her and she could see Harry taking out his wand.

They didn't lock the doors.

"Hermione? What do you think you're doing? Causing mayhem in class, brewing," he paused as approached and leaned over her to look at the cauldron. "Polyjuice Potion?!"

Oh they were in so much trouble right now.

"Get out Leonidas, I'm warning you," Harry was actually pointing his wand at Vergil.

"And you better not tell anyone," Ron joined him quickly.

Vergil merely sat down next to her and looked her in the eyes. "I know you haven't gone deaf, or mute. What _are_ you doing Hermione?" he put an emphasis on 'are' and she knew it.

"Bloody hell, he's acting like we're not even here!" Ron complained and she vaguely heard Harry agreeing with him.

Hermione looked Vergil in the eye, that cold red eye. He was sitting cross-legged, slightly hunched forward with his hands resting limply on his legs. He was more curious than anything. "You saw me?"

Vergil nodded. "I also saw Potter throwing that thing in Goyle's cauldron."

"No way he's telling the truth!" Ron accused though it really looked like his words were just bouncing off of Vergil. "You could have told Snape and get us into trouble if you really saw it!"

"Ron's right, you're Malfoy's best friend," Harry added, though with just as much accusation he didn't raise his voice.

Vergil just kept looking at her though. "I guess you have a good reason to do it. I'd rather hear it from you before I decide what to do."

It made sense, at least to Hermione. "We want to know who is threatening the Muggleborns," she just said it, plain and simple and Vergil nodded.

"So you figured you could use Polyjuice Potion to transform into someone and get information?" he guessed it, but that much was obvious given the potion in front of her.

"We did. Until you walked in ruining everything," Harry leaned against the wall, huffing, annoyed that there was probably nothing they could do to stop Vergil from telling someone.

"Hermione think of something, something to wipe his memories or I don't know keep his mouth shut," Ron suggested and while Hermione was aware of some memory charms she knew they were completely at Vergil's mercy here.

Vergil however, just looked at the potion. "You know, if Snape wasn't so prejudiced against you we probably would be taking extra potions together. You did a good job."

Despite the situation Hermione blushed a bit at the praise. After all, Vergil was the only student she accepted was better than her at potions. "It was very difficult and it's the most complex potion I've ever seen, of course, but we need it."

Vergil turned his attention back to her. "You're wasting time. The heir isn't someone from Slytherin house."

The words struck her, and she was sure Harry and Ron as well, like lightning. "What?" all three of them said at nearly the same time.

"Draco was digging around; he wants to help the heir of Slytherin 'purge the school' or something; damn fool has no idea what he's talking about," he stood up and went to the doors. "Whoever he talked to doesn't know a thing. The only thing we know is that it was opened before and it was fifty years ago. Lucius Malfoy knows and that's it, no one else as far as I'm aware."

Hermione was stunned, not even sure how to process what was going on.

"How do we know you aren't lying?" Harry demanded and for the first time Vergil actually looked him in the eyes.

"Because whoever is behind these attacks is doing a wrong thing and because," he glanced back at Hermione, "there's someone I care about that's in danger. So keep your head low, forget the potion and I'll try to get you some information."

Vergil just walked out. He closed the door behind him and left them.

"There's no way he's telling the truth, right?" Ron questioned and it was obvious he was asking her. "Since when are you two even close to begin with?"

"Since the beginning," Harry noticed it, he always noticed. Ron didn't but it didn't stop Harry from noticing. "He's still Malfoy's best friend."

Hermione stood up. "He's also my friend. I, I think he is saying the truth. Vergil is blunt, a bit rude, but he's honest," she explained.

"Yeah, an honest Slytherin, that'll be a miracle," Ron muttered into his chin and Hermione pretended she didn't hear it.

"I'll still finish the potion, better safe than sorry," she decided, though she did have some faith in Vergil to get the information needed.

 _ **~X~**_

Get the information? That was easier said than done. No one knew anything, absolutely no one that would actually tell him anything. So despite what Vergil promised less than half an hour ago he really had no idea where to start.

He opened the curtains on his bed and sat down on it. Where could he go next? Students were about as useful as a broken flashlight. Snape? No way he would say anything. Dumbledore? That was even less plausible. But surely they knew, after all how many creatures could actually petrify people and animals? Dumbledore especially had to know what was behind the attacks, he was a teacher back when it was opened fifty years ago.

"It's not like the old bastard is going to just tell me a story about it," Vergil muttered into his chin and sighed. Lucius also knew, but how to get to him?

"Hey," Draco's voice nearly made Vergil jump out of his skin. Immediately upon noticing Vergil's startled reaction Draco laughed.

"Hey?" Vergil raised an eyebrow and then realized it wasn't exactly having a desired effect if his other eyebrow was behind his bandages.

Draco sat down on his bed, right in front of Vergil. "Thanks for today, for looking out for me," Draco grinned though it was a bit too obvious that he wanted to talk about something else.

"Don't mention it," Vergil grinned back, not really feeling like forcing Draco to get to the real point of their talk.

Though, it seemed like Draco wasn't going to beat around the bush. If the way he swallowed the lump that formed in his throat was any indication. "Say, Vergil, mind if I ask you something?"

"Of course I don't, we're friends, you can ask me anything," Vergil assured him.

"Why don't you know whether your parents were wizards?" there were so many times Draco could have asked that and Vergil knew the boy was curious about it. He never asked though, he figured it was probably a sensitive subject and Vergil wasn't exactly an open book as far as his past was concerned.

Vergil's face remained fairly blank, there was no indication of any negative emotion, no anger, or even sorrow, that one he knew how to keep to himself for the most part. "I didn't get to spend much time with my mother. Never got a chance to ask, really. As for Acharon, the damn provider of half of my genes, well, he's definitely not a wizard."

Draco looked a bit taken aback by the words Vergil used to describe Acharon, but he quickly figured that wasn't something Vergil would talk about just yet. "You lost your mom?"

Vergil nodded, not trusting his voice to say it calmly.

"Anyone else?" Draco asked, almost timidly, almost like he was afraid to ask.

Vergil looked up, towards the lake and sighed. "I came from a war-torn place. War… took everyone I cared about, family I had left, my friends," his voice trembled as he said the last few words and he just kept his mouth shut, not really used to talking about it.

"Sorry," Draco mumbled, clearly not used to these kinds of situations.

Vergil offered him a weak smile. "Don't be," his voice was low, barely louder than a whisper and he took a slow, deep breath.

"Come with me when the holidays start. Father knows about the Chamber; we'll get him to tell us," Draco suddenly said and Vergil's eye widened.

"You hate muggleborns, why would you even offer something like that?" to say that Vergil was surprised would have been an understatement of the decade.

Draco sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, not really comfortable with how things were going. "You care about that Mudblood for some reason. I don't agree with it, but we stick together," Slytherins stick together, that's something Draco told Vergil and here it was, being proven in practice to him. "But don't say you want to stop it."

Vergil chuckled. "Don't worry about that," he grinned, feeling surprisingly happy. "Hey, Draco, I owe you one."

Draco smirked, clearly he understood that whatever weight was formed by the topic of their conversation disappeared. "Of course you do."

 _ **~X~**_

A week passed without anything significant happening and things were starting to fall back into the usual routine with the addition of threat of being petrified looming in the air.

"Dueling Club?" Vergil repeated once Zabini told him what he read.

"Right. The first meeting is tonight. Will you go?" Zabini asked him.

"It could be interesting to see, as long as it's not the most competent professor of all times teaching us," Vergil smirked, though he had a bad feeling he might just be jinxing himself with that hope.

 _ **~X~**_

At eight o'clock he entered the Great Hall, which now looked quite different, a golden stage that went along one wall was lit by thousands of candles floating overhead. Most of the school seemed to be present as well and they all carried their wands.

That was the moment Vergil should have learnt how to keep his mouth shut. As the one who entered the hall with intention to teach them was none other than Lockhart.

The fact that Snape was also there eased Vergil's mind a bit, this wouldn't be a complete waste of time.

Lockhart waved an arm for silence. "Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent! Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions, for full details, see my published works," he boasted to the students, how he still had students that believed him was beyond Vergil's brain capabilities.

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape," Lockhart flashed them a wide smile. "He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry, you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear!"

"Like you stand a chance," Vergil felt oddly frustrated. He did relax a bit when he saw the way Snape looked at Lockhart, a knowing smirk appeared on Cambion's face. With Snape looking like that anyone sane or at least somewhat observant would at least seek shelter preferably at least as far as the dark side of the Moon.

"This is ridiculous," Draco muttered and Zabini wholeheartedly agreed.

Lockhart and Snape turned to face each other and Lockhart bowed; Snape just jerked his head irritably. Then they raised their wands like swords in front of them.

"As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position," Lockhart told the silent crowd. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."

Snape bared his teeth, clearly annoyed by the man in front of him.

"One, two, three…"

The two swung their wands above their heads and pointed them at one another.

Snape was the first to make a move. " **Expelliarmus**!" a dazzling flash of scarlet light hit Lockhart and blasted him off his feet. The man flew backward off the stage, smashed into the wall, slid down and sprawled on the floor.

"All right!" Vergil couldn't suppress his cheer as he grinned at Snape. He wasn't the only one, his fellow Slytherins were cheering as well.

Lockhart unfortunately began getting up. The absence of his hat and the wavy hair standing on end was a bit of a satisfaction though.

He tottered back to the platform. "Well, there you have it! That was a Disarming Charm, as you see, I've lost my wand," He received it back from one of the Gryffindor females. "Ah, thank you, Miss Brown, yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy, however, I felt it would be instructive to let them see…" he probably stopped because of the murderous look on Snape's face.

Although a menacing red eye that promised pain near Snape probably added a bit of sweat. How could a child have that much killing intent in his eye was beyond Lockhart.

"Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me," Lockhart requested and began teaming up students.

"See you later, I'm going to go closer to Potter," Draco told them and went over to the other side.

Snape paired up Weasley with Finningan, Potter with Draco and Hermione with Bulstrode. He then proceeded to approach Vergil who was standing near Zabini. "Leonidas, Zabini," that was all he needed to say and the two boys grinned at one another.

"Don't go crazy," Zabini teased.

"Right back at you." Vergil's grin turned into a smirk.

"Face your partners!" called Lockhart who was back on the platform. "And bow!"

Vergil and Zabini bowed to one another.

"Wands at the ready! When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents, only to disarm them, we don't want any accidents, one… two… three!" Lockhart instructed.

" **Expelliarmus**!" Vergil was the first one to act, only a few milliseconds earlier than Zabini.

" **Expelliarmus**!" Zabini cried out and the two spells collided.

Vergil stood, wide open.

"I told you not to go crazy. **Expelliarmus**! Not to underestimate me," Zabini reminded him, the spell ricocheted toward Vergil, assuring Zabini that he had won.

Yet the white haired boy jumped to the side just in the nick of time. "I never underestimate my opponents," Vergil assured him, skidding rapidly from side to side, catching the fellow Slytherin off guard by the quick movement. " **Expelliarmus**!" the spell hit Zabini and sent him flying back.

The boy fell down and coughed a bit as he tried to catch his breath.

"Power is useless if you don't know how to use it," Vergil walked up to him and offered his hand.

"Are you sure you weren't going crazy?" Zabini smirked at him.

"Maybe a bit," Vergil turned to look around them, most duels were also over. He shook his head slightly when he saw Bulstrode having Hermione in a headlock. The bushy haired Gryffindor was clearly whimpering in pain. ' _Oh, hell no.'_

"All right, cut it out Bulstrode," Vergil put a stop to the headlock before the girl could do any damage and pulled her off. He wasn't too rough, but he wasn't gentle either.

Hermione coughed as she slowly got back up and Potter ran up to her.

"Are you okay?" Potter asked her.

"Y-Yes. Thank you," Hermione turned to Vergil with a smile on her face.

"Anytime," Vergil grinned and went back to the where he was beforehand.

"I think I'd better teach you how to block unfriendly spells," Lockhart, who was standing flustered in the midst of the hall said. Looking at Snape he saw that the man's black eyes glinted, thus he quickly looked away. "Let's have a volunteer pair; Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you-"

"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart." Snape interrupted him. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox. How about Leonidas and Potter?" suggested Snape with a bit of a not so pleasent smile on his face.

"Excellent idea!" agreed Lockhart. He proceeded to gesture Vergil and Potter into the middle of the hall as the crowd backed away to give them enough space.

Vergil grinned at Snape. "You really want me to knock Potter down, don't you?" he guessed and Snape merely smirked a bit.

"Wouldn't cross my mind," he replied though it was dripping with so much sarcasm Vergil was tempted to look at the floor to see if it got wet.

"Right, of course," Vergil played along. "So, how serious do you want me to take it?"

Snape's smirk widened a bit. "As humanly serious as possible."

Well that gave him an answer he needed, as long as he wasn't using his devil powers everything was fair game.

"Scared Potter?!" Draco shouted from the crowd, clearly loving the idea of Vergil beating Potter just as much as Snape did.

"Of your lackey? You wish," Potter's words caused a bit of a gasp from some students.

'All right, now he made it personal,' Vergil smirked wickedly. "Mind repeating that, Potter?" Vergil's tone promised a duel with no mercy. If there was even a small part of him that wanted to go easy it vanished into thin air.

"Professor, could you show me that blocking thing again?" Potter whispered, unaware that Vergil could still hear him, it looked like there was a bit of worry after all.

Lockhart just patted Potter on the shoulder. "Just do what I did, Harry!"

"What, drop my wand?"

Vergil had to smirk at that, it was a nice burn, one that Lockhart probably didn't even register, but it was nice one none the less.

"Three — two — one — go!" Lockhart shouted.

And go they did, or at least Vergil did. " **Aguamenti** ," he pointed his wand at the floor in front of water and a jet of water made a moderately sized puddle.

Potter raised an eyebrow, not sure what that was for. " **Expelliarmus**!" Potter went for a quick finish.

As he did with Zabini, Vergil jumped to the side. " **Flipendo**!" Potter dodged as quickly as he could and Vergil smirked, if only a bit. " **Carpe Retractum**!" a rope tied itself around Potter's right arm and Vergil pulled him forward. Right into the puddle. " **Glacius**!" he quickly froze the water making Potter slip and stumble forward much to the amusement of the present Slytherins.

"Harry!" Vergil heard Hermione and Weasley shouting, obviously worried.

Potter regained his balance, and pointed his wand at Vergil. " **Immobulus**!"

" **Finite** ," Vergil flicked his wand, terminating all spell effects in his vicinity. Including Potter's spell. "That's not the kind of spell you should just throw out randomly, Potter," Vergil began walking forward, just casually making his way towards his opponent. "How about you give up?"

Potter narrowed his eyes, gripped his wand a bit tighter and stood his ground. "Never!"

Vergil smirked, he had to give it to Potter, he didn't know when to quit. "Well then-" he raised his wand up in the air.

"Vergil stop!" Gemma shouted from the crowd and Vergil's eyes widened. It was the first time she spoke to him and he looked to his left, to where she was standing. "You're stronger so just cut it out, that's enough," her voice was firm.

Vergil lowered his wand. "It's a duel, Gemma. He didn't give up," Vergil argued, more fueled by Potter's comment than anything else.

And if his arguments weren't enough Potter chose that exact moment to speak up as well. "We aren't done, come on," he actually challenged Vergil, dared him to continue.

"Harry, don't! Vergil, please, at least take it easy!" Hermione's shout reached them both, but it only fueled Potter's determination to keep fighting, to not lose against Vergil.

Potter took a step back and looked around himself. " **Fumos**!" he formed smoke around himself and moved as it began spreading.

Vergil closed his eye and waited, wand ready, more importantly he was ready to jump out of the way.

" **Rictusempra**!" Potter's voice came from his left, the side he could see it coming from if his eye was open.

Instead of countering the spell, Vergil jumped back, avoiding the impact and skidding across the floor. " **Diffindo**!" he sent the slashing spell towards Potter, his eye opened again now that the smoke from Fumos was disappearing. Potter rolled to the side and left the remaining smoke.

" **Expelliarmus**!" Potter tried again.

" **Verdimillious**!" green lightning collided with Potter's spell and the air cracked slightly as a few sparks nearly reached Potter. At the moment Vergil's spells were just a bit stronger. It still forced Potter to halt in his advances and gave Vergil just enough chance to land a solid hit. " **Everte Statum**!" Potter was pushed through the air and landed on his back.

Vergil walked over to Potter and pointed a wand up. " **Incendio** ," a small torrent of fire came out of his wand. "This could have been pointed at you, guess you lost this one," Vergil said.

Slytherins cheered but other houses weren't so happy about the outcome. As the cheers got swallowed by whistles and other sounds of protest Vergil put his wand away and walked out. His eye quickly met with Hermione's and he could see she wasn't happy with him.

Aside from a bit of pain Potter would be fine in a matter of minutes. This was a duel and he wasn't going to hold back, no matter what.

* * *

 _ **And that's chapter 7. Slowly but surely we're approaching the end of the second book. There are a few more things to deal with but we're getting there. Now, there are a few elephants in the room in this chapter, I do have a reasoning for what I did, but I would really like to hear your thoughts on what happened in this chapter before I try to explain myself.**_

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	8. Determination Of A Snake

_**Chapter 8 – Determination Of A Snake**_

* * *

Vergil sighed, he was back at school, in the library, waiting for Hermione to show up. His visit to the Malfoys wasn't exactly the most productive one, but it got him a couple of clues as to what he was looking for.

 _ **~X~**_

 _It was late, during one of his last nights at the manor and her was beginning to lose hope. Lucius Malfoy was like a vault; he said a few more things about the victim, but aside from that he wouldn't reveal a single thing no matter how hard Vergil or Draco pestered him about the Heir of Slytherin or the attacks. Draco had fallen asleep a bit less than two hours ago, but Vergil still couldn't will himself into drinking the Dreamless sleep potion. He needed a glass of water, maybe that would calm him down a bit._

 _Getting up he carefully made his way down the hall, the walls, despite having some portraits and antique decorations, looked cold to Vergil. This place was a house, but he could hardly imagine calling it a home. It just didn't hold any warmth, the family was working like a clock, doing everything at the same time every day. Getting up, eating their meals, everything was so rigid._

 _Vergil entered the kitchen and suddenly stopped. He wasn't alone, looking to his right he saw Lucius Malfoy, observing his collection of different brands of alcohol. He probably hadn't decided which one he wanted, hence he didn't demand it from Dobby._

" _Ah, Vergil," Lucius acknowledged him before pulling out a firewhiskey and a glass. "Can't fall asleep?" he poured his drink into the glass and looked at Vergil. "Would you like to try?"_

 _Vergil shrugged. "Sure," he agreed, doubting it could be too bad._

 _Lucius smirked and poured half of another glass. "Sit; I believe you want some information."_

 _At that Vergil's eye widened. "I do. But what's with the change of heart?" he sat down and Lucius joined him at the table._

 _Lucius took a sip of his drink and looked Vergil in the eye. "I believe it is in our best interests to form a good relationship. So, as a sign of good will on my part I will answer one question you have, as long as it is reasonable."_

 _Vergil narrowed his eye slightly. A reasonable question? So identity of the Heir was out of question. "I'd like to know if the monster is a beast or a being," he smirked slightly._

 _Lucius nodded. "That much I can answer. It is a beast," he revealed with a smirk of his own._

 _For a moment Vergil felt as if he just got himself into something he was unaware of, something dangerous. Something that could cost someone their life._

 _ **~X~**_

Hermione saying his name brought him out of his thoughts and he turned around just in time to see her flinging her arms around his neck and pulling him into a hug. "Hey, Hermione," he muttered and after a short delay returned her hug.

"So?" she was obviously eager to hear if he found anything out.

Vergil sighed. "Not much. Aside from the fact that the student that was killed was a Ravenclaw and that it happened in the bathroom I only know that it's definitely a beast, so we aren't dealing with, I don't know, a devil or something similar," he motioned at the books on the table. "I figured I could just find a beast that petrifies in here," he explained and Hermione immediately went to the other side of the table and picked up a book.

"Let's do it then," her enthusiasm to finally find an answer was contagious and Vergil smiled as he picked up a book of his own.

 _ **~X~**_

They were at it for a few hours already, still, slowly but surely they were going through the books they got on magical beasts.

Hermione suddenly gasped, causing Vergil to look up from the book he was reading. "I found it, it's the Basilisk!"

Vergil's eye widened. "A giant serpent?" of course, it made sense. He stood up and went over to Hermione's side, he sat down to her right and leaned over to her book.

"Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it," Hermione read and then immediately looked up towards Vergil. "This is it, it's the Basilisk!" she exclaimed, excited that they finally solved the problem. For once she didn't care if someone berated her for being loud in the library, the more people heard her the better.

Vergil grinned, patting her on the back in a sort of a congratulations kind of way. "That fits perfectly! If any monster would be connected to Slytherin it would be a giant serpent, no one was actually hurt, so it must have been an attack from a distance," he paused for a moment.

"And the voices Harry heard from the walls! It was the Basilisk so Harry is a parselmouth! I can't believe I haven't thought of that before!" Hermione revealed something Vergil was completely unaware of.

"Wait what?" he shook his head, that was the least important thing now. "But how come no one died?" he questioned.

Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose, her eyes were closed and brows furrowed a bit. "Of course. No one looked it directly in the eyes. Filch's cat saw its eyes in the water, probably, Colin saw it through his camera and Justin saw it though Nick," she guessed and it was the only explanation that fit.

"And Nick is already dead so it can't exactly work on him," Vergil added making Hermione nod.

"But it's a giant snake, how does it keep moving unnoticed?" it was a question on both of their minds.

Vergil leaned back into his chair. "The chamber remained hidden so it's probably underground. Through the pipes, I guess? But it must be a large snake, how does it even fit through them?"

Hermione nodded. "Either it can magically fit through small spaces or the pipes have some sort of extension charm placed on them. And that definitely fits the bathroom part as well," she quickly ripped the page off and wrote down pipes on it. "Come on, we need to get this to someone, professor McGonagall or maybe even professor Dumbledore," she quickly got up, clutching the piece of paper in her hand.

Vergil followed, but just as they left the library they ran into Gemma.

"It's a Basilisk, the monster that's been petrifying the students!" Hermione immediately told her before Gemma could even try to ask them what they were doing outside of their respective dormitories that late.

Gemma took a deep breath. "Come on, let's find a professor," she said. "I don't have a mirror or anything of that nature to keep us alive, though."

"I've got that covered," Vergil said and she looked him in the eye. He subtly motioned to his eye, signaling his devil powers and she nodded.

"How?" Hermione was clearly puzzled.

"Never mind that for now. Let's move," Gemma was quick to turn Hermione's attention away from Vergil and Vergil was more than grateful for that as he concentrated on spreading an invisible electric field all around them.

As they were climbing down from the second floor, courtesy of moving staircase messing with their route to McGonagall's office on the first floor Vergil felt the disturbance. "Close your eyes! NOW!"

Hermione and Gemma immediately closed their eyes and Vergil could feel their heart rates getting faster.

"Where is it?" Gemma asked, her voice trembling as she spoke.

"It stopped moving, it's too near, to our right, in the wall," Vergil replied, his eye closed. There had to be a way to do this. To move past the Basilisk and get to McGonagall.

"What now? Move?" Hermione was starting to panic.

"It might come out and attack us directly then," Vergil wasn't sure how high the chances of that were but he wasn't willing to risk Hermione and Gemma's safety.

Gemma snorted at that. "Same goes if we stay here," she countered and Vergil knew she was right.

Taking a deep breath and feeling the snake move he made a decision. "When I count to three keep going and get to McGonagall's office, open your eyes and run as quickly as you can," his voice was calm, a complete contrast to the fearful tones of the two females.

"Vergil?" Gemma wasn't sure what he was planning, but there was obvious concern in her voice. "You mean all three of us, right?"

That got Hermione's attention as well. "Of course he does, right?"

There was no time for counting; he felt the moving staircase start to shift, if only a bit and formed a layer of darkness on them. "I'll see you later," he shifted the darkness with enough force to get both Gemma and Hermione of the stairs. He opened his eye and ran up the stairs, ignoring Gemma and Hermione yelling for him to come back. " **Devil Arms: Perun**!" his blade appeared and he cut his left forearm, blood gushed out and Vergil narrowed his eye. "Come on you damn animal! You can't resist blood, can you?!" he yelled, and swung his left arm as quickly as he could, letting the blood splash onto the wall and floor. Surely it would follow his scent now.

And follow it did. Vergil could feel it tearing through the electric field he was using and there was no way he could fight a giant snake without seeing. "Can't believe I'm actually using it…" he muttered as darkness surrounded his head. " **Solid State Darkness** ," he bit out as the darkness around his head hardened into sort of a mask covering his eyes from every angle. He could see through it, he was a darkness devil, but the Basilisk wouldn't be able to look him in the eyes. At least he hoped. It wasn't like he tried it before.

He heard a small thud, like something landed on the floor and turned around. There, without any colors but merely in a sort of a grey scale world, was a basilisk. Vergil had never seen a snake so big. Even when it was slithering across the floor, coming closer to him, it was probably about a meter tall and just as wide, if not slightly more. He was sure it could swallow him if it decided to and if he let it.

"Well, I asked for this," Vergil gripped the handle of his sword and leaned forward, ready to react to whatever the snake did.

 _ **~X~**_

Gemma stood as if petrified, looking up to the second floor. "That idiot," she cursed and saw Hermione was on the brink of tears.

"He- he just," her breathing became erratic, she was trembling and Gemma was sure Hermione was on the verge of a panic attack. "Vergil!" she yelled, calling his name desperately.

Gemma's heart ached for the girl next to her, she needed to take control of the situation. Gently she took hold of Hermione's wrist and forced a smile. "Believe in him, we need to tell professor McGonagall."

She may have said that, but she was worried. Half-devil or not, facing the Basilisk was pretty much a suicide. The least Gemma could do right now was make sure Vergil wasn't risking his life for nothing. And if her worries were warranted, well, they didn't have much time until the beast came after them.

 _ **~X~**_

The giant snake stood still and Vergil had no idea why. Maybe it was confused he wasn't dead yet, or it was searching for his eyes. Either way, it wasn't moving and he knew he had two options. Fight or flight, attack or run.

He'd be damned if he ran away. Grom didn't teach a coward how to fight.

Electricity circled around his left hand as Vergil pointed the palm towards the Basilisk. "Here goes," lightning struck the snake, making it hiss, but aside from that the attack was ineffective. But it did get the beast to move. It raised its head and opened its jaw, showing him the large fangs filled with venom not even a devil could resist. It lunged at him and Vergil jumped to the side, raising his sword and slicing the Basilisk across the scales.

His eye widened when he felt the resistance, Perun was cutting through the scales, but only on the surface level. As it was anything but the most vulnerable spots were useless to even try to attack.

Recovering from the slight shock he skidded across the floor and quickly rolled to his left, dodging another attack from a surprisingly fast snake.

' _Eyes, I need to go after the eyes!_ ' he realized, if he could gouge out the eyes this would be much easier and the biggest danger would be dealt with. Even if scales were too hard to pierce through Perun should still be enough to take out the eyes. He could try to go for the mouth, but Perun wasn't a long sword, he doubted he could do it without getting bitten along the way.

Vergil leaped forward, right at the snake and thrusted Perun towards the right eye. Blood dripped down the side of Basilisk's head and it jerked around, causing Vergil to hit the wall, but it still had both eyes. His aim was off and he stabbed Perun through the scales above the eye.

Vergil grunted, clutching at his chest. He felt like he got hit by a truck, and then a train right after it. A small trail of blood slid down his chin from the corner of his mouth. The Basilisk attacked again and Vergil just barely dodged. "Damn it," he groaned as he leaned against the wall, he had no chance of winning. No chance whatsoever. Charging as much lightning as he possibly could kept the snake at bay. It wasn't attacking, but he wasn't going to last much longer.

Lightning that surrounded him began slowly melting the armor he was standing next to and the door of an empty classroom cracked under heat. 'I just need to, take a breath, just for a bit,' he was quickly burning through all the power he had. If only he didn't have to keep the damn **Solid State Darkness** active as well it would have been easier.

Taking one last deep breath he lowered the strength of his lightning and saw that the Basilisk noticed it. It hissed and Vergil charged lightning through Perun. As soon as lightning around him vanished he charged at the snake, slashing through the right side of its face and through the eye. The Basilisk let out something like a screeching roar of pain and thrashed its body around. Hitting Vergil and sending him into the wall. Darkness around Vergil's eyes shattered and he coughed up blood.

Barely conscious he slowly opened his eye out of habit. The last thing he saw was a ghost flying between him and the Basilisk and the world faded to black.

 _ **~X~**_

Hermione couldn't sleep, not even for a moment. When she and Gemma told professor McGonagall what happened and what she and Vergil found out professor immediately took her to the Gryffindor common room as quickly as possible. If something had happened to Vergil she would have known by now, right? Right. Professor McGonagall would have told her by now.

Yet she just couldn't stop worrying.

She tried falling asleep but simply couldn't so she just came down and began pacing back and forth through the common room.

Harry and Ron were yet to wake up, though some of the older students were beginning to come down as well. She knew she couldn't wait any longer. She quickly made her way to professor McGonagall's office and knocked.

' _He's fine,_ ' she kept telling herself. She needed to believe that.

Professor McGonagall opened the door to her office and upon seeing Hermione her eyes showed regret.

' _No, please, no,'_ she mentally pleaded, fearing the worst already.

"Miss Granger, Hermione… come in, have a seat," professor McGonagall made a glass of water appear in front of Hermione and sat down as well.

"Professor," Hermione hesitated, "Is Vergil alright?" she asked not sure she actually wanted to hear an answer.

"Mr. Leonidas has been petrified. Slytherin house ghost saved him from looking into the Basilisk's eyes," professor told her and Hermione felt her breath hitch at that.

Hermione felt tears burning in her eyes as she got up only to be stopped by professor McGonagall. "I, I need to see him!" professor pulled her into a comforting hug and Hermione sobbed. "It's my fault," she whispered, trying her best to stop crying.

"Hermione, it'll be fine," professor gently spoke to her, so gently she would question if it was really her stern professor McGonagall in any other normal situation. But it wasn't just any situation. "It's not your fault, it's the Basilisk and whoever is behind the attacks that we need to blame. Mr. Leonidas will be fine, as will everyone else," her words were soft, but confident.

"I want to see him," Hermione pleaded.

"Later. I am well-aware of how Mr. Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherin might react if you went right now," professor said directly.

Hermione sobbed, her feeling of guilt coming back in full strength. "They blame me and they should. Vergil wouldn't be there-"

"You are all still just children. In time you'll all understand Mr. Leonidas didn't get petrified because of you," professor McGonagall whispered before letting go of Hermione and handing her the glass of water. "Calm down and then we can go see him later, alright?"

Hermione nodded, there was nothing else she could do.

 _ **~X~**_

If Draco had no reason to hate mudblood before, especially Granger, well now he had it. He watched Vergil, sitting in his bed, his upper body hunched forward a bit. He was petrified and from what Gemma told them it was obvious who was to blame.

"Bloody Granger," he hissed under his breath, though it was still loud enough for Snape, who was net to him, to hear him.

A long unbearable silence filled the hospital wing as he, Gemma, Snape and Dumbledore all stood around Vergil's bed. Finally, Dumbledore sighed.

"A hundred points will be awarded to Slytherin for Mr. Leonidas' actions. He not only saved other students but made sure we have an upper hand now," Dumbledore decided.

Draco scoffed at that. "Points?! What good are those now?! Vergil is petrified because of that mudblood!"

"There is no need for such words, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore spoke up, so infuriatingly calm and acting like he knew everything.

"If he didn't care about her than he wouldn't be in this situation!" Draco yelled, throwing his arms up and stomping over to the window.

Gemma sighed. "Maybe, but I don't think he regrets it. Draco, it was Vergil's decision and I'm sure he wouldn't want anyone to blame Hermione for it. And if she's to blame then I am as well."

Draco was infuriated by that. "No you're not! She's the target!"

"Miss Farley has a point," Snape finally spoke up, though Draco could see the cold anger in the man's eyes. "What's done is done."

Draco couldn't believe what he was hearing. They all just didn't care. Snape seemed angry, sure, but he didn't sound angry. Gemma was defending a mudblood and Dumbledore didn't even try to pretend he cared. Yet there Vergil was, petrified with a strange bloody sword next to his body.

 _ **~X~**_

Vergil had been petrified around the end of January and it took till the end of May for the Mandrake restorative potion to be ready. Four months of half-consciousness, courtesy of Perun still being separated from his soul. Four months of hearing every single word but being unable to do anything. If his consciousness at the time wasn't just that of a Devil Arm Vergil would have gone mad. Instead all he had were vague memories of what happened around him.

When he finally regained his consciousness he saw he was in the hospital wing, still sitting in the same position the Basilisk petrified him in. Petrified, not killed. He'd have to thank Baron.

"Finally awake," and speaking of the ghost he was right there.

Vergil carefully moved, not sure if his body was ready. He winced when he felt slight pain at the sudden moves. "Hey," his throat was so hoarse it came out way to similar to Baron's own voice.

"That was reckless," Baron chastised him, not beating around the bush for even a moment.

"Thanks," he swallowed, trying to moisturize his throat at least a bit. "I owe you," he made a small pause again. "For that."

Baron sighed, it was clear to Vergil he didn't exactly want to chat with him. "Try not to do something so reckless again," they both knew Vergil would do something reckless again.

As Baron left Vergil realized he was the only one still in the bed. The potion must have had a somewhat delayed effect, maybe it was because of his blood. Or maybe because of the state he was petrified in. His ribs were probably cracked during his encounter with the Basilisk.

"Mr. Leonidas! Good, you're awake," Pomfrey was immediately by his side when she saw that he was awake. She brought a cup to his lips and he took it, drinking the potion inside of it. "Good, how are you feeling?"

Vergil cleared his throat, finally feeling like he got his voice back. "Stiff wouldn't be appropriate now, would it?" he grinned a bit.

Pomfrey chuckled and nodded. "Not exactly, but I'll let it slide this time. If you feel well enough you should go to the feast, we have to celebrate, Mr. Potter has slain the Basilisk."

Vergil's eye widened at that. Potter of all people did it? _'I'll be damned, how the hell did he manage to do it?'_ well, that hardly mattered, all that mattered was that the Basilisk was gone. He nodded and slowly stood up. "Got it," he felt a bit dizzy at fairly sudden move but he remained firmly on his feet. He took Perun and smiled.

"Professor Dumbledore said to leave it next to you," Pomfrey told him and Vergil knew he owed a 'thank you' to the old headmaster.

On his way to the Great Hall Vergil made Perun disappear and when he entered he was met with a fairly strange feast. First of all everyone was dressed like they were pulled out of bed for the feast. They probably were, now that he thought about it for a bit. Casually he walked over to the Slytherin table and before he even got a chance to say 'hi' he was met with sudden burst of happiness from his classmates.

"Vergil!" Draco jumped from his seat and actually hugged him. For a split second and not a moment longer, but hugged him nonetheless. "You're back!"

Vergil blinked a few times, confused by sudden outburst of emotions and the only response he could possibly come up with was: "Yeah."

He took a seat between Draco and Zabini, not really sure what else to do now that everyone in his year was completely focused on him.

"Vergil?"

His eye widened when he heard Gemma's voice and he turned around to see the first Slytherin student he met standing there. "Hey," he mumbled, standing up to approach her; he was happy that she wasn't flinching away from him.

"I'm sorry," Gemma muttered and pulled him into a hug, so tight Vergil thought she might actually break his bones. "I'm so sorry for everything," she was apologizing and Vergil returned the hug, realizing the apology was meant for her reaction to what he was.

He smiled, comfortable even though her arms were close to his neck. "Don't apologize. I get it," he whispered, as genuinely as he could, letting her know that it was fine. As long as she wanted it to be fine. "Are we alright now?"

Vergil felt her nod before she pulled away. "Come on. Hermione's waiting."

Vergil's smile widened and he ignored the exasperated sigh coming from Draco as he went over to the other side of the hall.

And Hermione cried as she hugged him. It wasn't as tight as with Gemma, but with her right arm wrapped directly around his neck it was more intimate. He took a deep breath, relaxing and properly hugging Hermione for the first time. He was awake.

He was back.

He looked at Hermione, felt the barely noticeable trembling of her body as she struggled not to cry.

"Vergil, I-" she began but he had already heard her say it was her fault too many times.

"Don't. It's not your fault," he pulled back a bit, just enough to look her in the eyes. "Hey, Hermione, I care about you, I don't regret this and I don't blame you; so please, don't blame yourself," gently he pulled her back into another hug.

Briefly his eye met with Snape's and only one thought came to his mind.

He was home.

* * *

 _ **Chamber of Secrets - finished**_

* * *

 _ **And with that we've completed the second book. I have to admit, this chapter was originally much different, talk with Lucius wasn't a flashback and I had a few extra scenes during Vergil's stay with Malfoys, including meeting Dobby. However, as I wrote them I figured those scenes, at least one of them for sure would be better suited for another time. Next up Prisoner of Azkaban. So, yeah, tell me what you thought of this chapter and the story so far.**_

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 _ **Guest – Thank you, I'm glad you think so.**_

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	9. A Splendid Start

_**Book 3 – Prisoner of Azkaban**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 9 – A Splendid Start**_

* * *

It's been six years since he came to this country, since he worked for these people. Yet it never felt natural, especially when it came down to jobs he got from the Head of the department for devils. He ignored the stares from humans, not wanting to lose his position over a small fight he was bound to win. This place was meaningless to him, just another building; they all were ever since he lost everything. His reputation, his fame, all for a single failure.

And now, dressed in rags and covered by a tattered grey cloak he had to follow the rules of humans. Without knocking he pushed open the door and saw the man that betrayed his race. The damned bastard that still dared to refer to himself as a devil. "Anthony," he spat out, not really having any patience for the devil.

Anthony smirked slightly, annoying the hell out of him. What pissed him off the most was that Anthony was devil in everything but nature. Powerful, as greedy as the light he commanded and just as lustful as his flames, but he had a sick desire to make devils that lived in this world, or at least this country, submit to humans.

"Gliver, my friend, what took you so long?" Anthony raised his arms as he leaned back into his chair.

Gliver rolled his eyes at that. He was never going to be friends with this man. "Aside from imagining your head exploding?" he put it as bluntly as he could. "What do you want? I don't have time for your rambling."

Anthony chuckled, not at all affected by Gliver's words. "Straight to the point, huh? That's what I always liked about you," he slid a piece of paper across the table. "Here's your target. Find and kill Sirius Black, no matter what he can't reach Harry Potter," his voice was suddenly serious, it wasn't a request, it was an order and Gliver knew it.

"Consider it done," Gliver replied. Another job, another life to take. It was like the old times, only in reverse.

 _ **~X~**_

Severus woke up, feeling slight fatigue after a long night of potion making, courtesy of Dumbledore's request. Of all the people he was making it for it just had to be none other than Remus Lupin; it would be so easy, just to make a poison instead, and maybe it would be worth it, but he resisted the desire.

Looking outside of his window he saw Vergil sitting on the ground, cross-legged as usual. There were several orbs of lightning and darkness spinning around him rapidly, which was the reason why Severus wasn't quite sure how many there were. It helped Vergil improve his concentration when he was focusing on controlling them like he was at the moment, or so the boy said. It also meant he was nearing the end of his night-long training and would soon be going to sleep.

"If only he wasn't a cambion," Severus sighed, there wasn't much Vergil would be able to do after he finished Hogwarts, of course, if he got to the seventh year in the first place. On the other hand only a cambion would be able to face the Basilisk at the age of thirteen and survive without any outside help. Severus saw the hall after Vergil was petrified, he saw the blood, and the damage Vergil undoubtedly caused with his lightning. According to Potter the beast had a large cut on the right side of its head and it was missing an eye. A small smirk appeared on Severus' face.

Even if Vergil didn't slay it, he did do better than Potter would have if he was in Vergil's situation.

Lightning and darkness vanished and Vergil got up, he was done with his training.

 _ **~X~**_

About a month away from the next school year Vergil finished brewing a new dose of Dreamless sleep potion as Snape read newspapers.

"Anything interesting that happened lately?" Vergil asked as he poured the potion into vials.

"Someone escaped from Azkaban," Snape stated, he sounded like that was nothing too special, but his voice seemed to lack the vocal capabilities to express when, if ever, he was impressed.

"That Sirius Black person?" Vergil asked as he glanced at the front page.

"Obviously," was that sarcasm in Snape's voice or was Vergil just hearing things.

The boy brushed it off. "Azkaban? That prison they sent Hagrid to last year?" Vergil remembered. He was petrified for roughly half of the school year, but Draco told him everything that happened after the celebration feast.

"Yes," Snape replied.

"Guess it's not as secured as I've heard last year," he commented, "Besides the obvious appearance…" he was referring to Black's waxy white skin and sunken face. "He seems to be around your age. Do you know him?"

When Snape sent him a glare Vergil raised an eyebrow. That was enough of a response to the white haired boy. Snape probably knows Black and more than anything he made clear that he did not want to talk about it.

"So… Any idea on who the next Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is going to be?"

Another glare made Vergil sweat drop.

' _Struck a nerve, eh? Twice in a row… Awesome,_ ' Vergil mentally sighed. "I'm going to bed. Sweet dreams," he grinned sheepishly and bolted to the bedroom he slept in. Three hours of sleep and then he'd get to his usual routine.

From the corner of his eye he saw Snape pinched the bridge of his nose. Vergil grinned at that, even if Snape would rather die than admit it he was fond of Vergil.

 _ **~X~**_

Hogwarts express and the journey to Hogwarts were so far quite pleasant to Vergil. This time he was in compartment with the rest of the Slytherin boys in his dormitory.

"Does anyone want to bet on how bad the Defense teacher is going to be this year?" Nott suggested.

"Don't bother. I've already seen him," Draco said, pretty much seeking additional questions.

"What's he like?" Zabini asked, taking it upon himself to be the one to satisfy Draco's attention hunger.

"His robes are all patched up. Bet he's going to be ridiculous," Draco assumed right away.

"If the state of clothes is a sign of a good teacher then Lockhart would have been amazing," Vergil pointed out. Feeling a headache just by thinking about Lockhart's classes.

"If he was any good he'd be able to at least afford something decent," Draco argued and then smirked. "And at least Lockhart was easy to get points from," he reminded them.

"Fair point," a confident grin crept up on Vergil's face. "I'll take that bet. And I'm betting he'll be at least competent."

"How about we wage ten Galleons?" Draco offered confidently.

"Sure," yet his fellow Slytherin wasn't losing the confident look on his face.

They shook each other's hand and the bet was made just as the train began slowing down.

"Are we there already?" Zabini was taken aback by how quickly they arrived.

"We shouldn't be," Nott pointed out and stood up to look into the corridor. He wasn't surprised to see other students popping their heads outside their compartments as well.

"I can't see much," Draco said, the darkness of the compartment unnerved him.

"Calm down," Vergil sounded calm but he was a bit unnerved when he saw something outside, boarding the train… "Doubt there's anyone foolish enough to try and attack. Either way **Lumos** ," the tip of his wand illuminated the compartment.

"Nice thinking," Zabini said as the white haired boy stood up and began making his way to the doors.

"Where are you going?" Draco asked, both puzzled and obviously not pleased with Vergil leaving anywhere.

"To check what's going on," Vergil looked back at his best friend. "I'll be back in a bit."

Just as he reached out for the doors they slid open. And there it was, a cloaked figure towering all the way to the ceiling, the face hidden underneath the hood and a hand protruding from the cloak, glistening, scabbed, grayish. The hand was withdrawn under the cloak. A sound of long, rattling breath slowly being taken in was heard by the boys and the temperature dropped

Everything stopped for a moment, the time itself seemed to freeze at the cold around him. His instinct tried to force his body into acting but he couldn't move. He felt everything just being drained from him, anything positive he had in his memories, just being pushed all the way back into the corners of his mind.

The sounds that shouldn't in any circumstance be around him clearly boomed in his ears. The rumble of thunder, explosions, the sounds of battle, the earth itself splitting, wood burning and buildings crashing down…

Why?

It was stopping, but a new sensation that made his blood run cold replaced it. The desperation of his barely six years old self returning. He opened his eye, he saw it, that devil, the monster that killed his mother, standing there. Vergil tried to reach out, to stop him. But his vision was blurry, he couldn't move, he felt as if he was pulled away. He was being pulled away…

And then it all stopped, just like it started.

 _ **~X~**_

"-gil! Vergil!"

He heard shouts, someone calling his name. _'Draco?'_ he barely recognized the voice, the memories still fresh in his mind. _'It's over so just wake up!'_

Abruptly he sat up, gasping for air as if he nearly drowned. "What the hell happened?" he gasped, somewhat frantically looking around, seeking proof that what he saw wasn't real. And he got it, he saw the looks of concern on the faces of five boys around him. Next thing he registered was an adult standing above him as well. Finally, his senses came back to him, he was on the floor and the train was moving again. He tried to push himself back up but the weakness was still present and he couldn't will his body into moving just yet.

"Say something. Are you okay?" Draco kept asking as he reached out and helped Vergil get back into his seat.

Vergil looked down on his hands, they were trembling. He clenched his fists and took a deep breath. "I'll be fine. I'm just tired for some reason. Thanks," he looked at the unknown man he guessed was the new professor, how many adults were on this train anyway. "Can you tell me what happened?" the question was directed at the man and Vergil finally took in the man's appearance.

He seemed tired, perhaps even a bit sick, his brown hair was already greying and he had scars on his face.

The man broke a slab of chocolate into pieces and handed Vergil a rather big one. "Here, eat it. It'll help."

Vergil looked at the chocolate, unable to comprehend how it would help. "If you say so…" well it couldn't hurt, right? He took a bite as Professor gave the other boys chocolate as well. To his surprise the chocolate really did help, he felt warmth coursing through his body. Which was odd because he really wasn't the biggest fan of sweets.

"What was that?" Vergil persisted.

"A dementor. Guard of Azkaban. I need to check if anyone else was attacked, excuse me," the professor left the compartment.

"If the rest of the school year is as pleasant as this… Hip hip hooray," he said dryly pumping his fist up in the air with no enthusiasm whatsoever. He suppressed the feelings caused by the dementor, it wouldn't do him any good to dwell on that any longer.

"You really scared us there. We all felt cold and unhappy because of that thing, but you fell unconscious," Zabini told him, still looking at Vergil like he was going to faint.

"I'm fine, don't worry about it," he grinned at the worried boys around him. He was touched by their worry, he really was. Judging by their states none of them were affected to the extent that he was.

"Draco tried to pull you away but… there isn't really much place in here," Nott grinned sheepishly.

Vergil turned and smirked at Draco who refused to meet his eyes. "Are you going soft?" he teased and lightly jabbed Draco's shoulder. "That could have been dangerous you know," the tone of his voice shifted into a more serious one.

"Well what else was I supposed to do?! Professor came here and made it go away but I couldn't know he'd show up," Draco hissed. A thank you would have been nice, instead he was getting lectured.

"I know. Thank you, I appreciate it," Vergil grinned, feeling fine, happy even. The effect that thing had on him completely blocked out, he acted as if it happened a long, long time ago.

 _ **~X~**_

When they finally reached the school Vergil saw about a hundred stagecoaches pulled by those horse-like skeletal creatures he saw back in the first year. Along with the rest of the boys he climbed up into one and waited for the arrival to the school. A cold air around him made him look outside, those things were here as well…

There were rumors about Potter losing consciousness as well, Vergil grunted knowing that Draco would eventually go and tease Potter about it. But perhaps it wouldn't happen tonight due to Vergil also losing consciousness.

Finally, they reached the Great Hall, but the night was far from over for Vergil.

"Leonidas, to my office," Snape called the moment he saw Vergil, which wasn't very hard, the white hair made his stick out like a sore thumb.

Vergil followed Snape into the dungeons and then the professor's office. "Professor Lupin-" there definitely was some animosity. "-sent an owl ahead to say you, along with Potter, were taken ill on the train."

"Spectacular," Vergil groaned, annoyed that him losing consciousness was still the topic.

Barely a minute later Madam Pomfrey came into the office adding oil to the flames of annoyance burning inside of Vergil.

"Another dementor?" Pomfrey closely observed him.

"So I've been told," Vergil replied, just wanting to get this over with quickly.

Pomfrey went to feel his forehead, proceeded to check his pulse. "Terrible things, they are, the effect they have on people who are already delicate."

Oh, the cambion took great deal of offense in that phrasing. "The hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked, his voice ice cold.

"He should have some chocolate. I hear Professor Lupin had already given them though," Pomfrey pretty much ignored his question.

"Are you absolutely certain you feel all right, Leonidas?" Snape asked when the woman left his office.

"I am," Vergil assured him, still feeling bitter about being called delicate. "Can I go now?"

Snape observed him for a few moments before finally replying. "Yes."

 _ **~X~**_

Vergil went to the Great Hall and sat down next to Draco.

"Did something happen?" Draco asked him.

"Nothing important," Vergil assured him as Dumbledore stood up.

"Welcome!" Dumbledore greeted both the new students and the ones who already spent some time in the castle, the candlelight shimmered on his beard. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast-" he cleared his throat. "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business."

He certainly didn't look happy about this and no one could blame him. They didn't even start the school year and those things were already causing trouble for students.

"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds," Dumbledore continued. "While they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises, or even Invisibility Cloaks."

Vergil's eye widened. _'The hell? Did any student in this school even possess one of those?'_

"It is not in the nature of a dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the dementors," the old headmaster looked very seriously around the hall, his eyes met with lack of both motion and sounds.

"On a happier note, I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

The applause that followed that statement wasn't particularly enthusiastic, which was reasonable after at least two years, as far as Vergil knew, of utterly incompetent teachers filling that position. Vergil's applause was honest; the man so far seemed competent. But as he looked at Snape it was clear that his suspicions of Snape harboring some animosity toward Lupin were correct. The Potions master looked like he loathed Lupin.

"As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore continued once the applause for Professor Lupin died away. "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties."

That was a bit of a surprise. Now that he thought about it Snape did tell him he'd be taking Care of Magical Creatures as well as Ancient Runes as electives. Well, he didn't really choose them but Snape did it for him. Vergil didn't care about that which was probably why Dumbledore allowed Snape to deal with that.

Draco seethed at the news. "That oaf? Teaching us? Wait until my father hears about this."

"Well, I think that's everything of importance. Let the feast begin!" and so the food and drinks filled the plates and goblets. The feast was pleasant, filled with laughter, talk, the dementors were for the moment forgotten.

 _ **~X~**_

The following morning Vergil found himself entertaining his housemates. "And I was like," he dramatically raised his left arm and put the back of his right hand against his forehead before leaning backwards. "And then I fell back so hard Muggles registered an earthquake," Vergil joked around causing a roar of laughter around him.

"He's lying! He was actually swooning as well," Draco did a rather ridiculous impression of a swooning fit causing another roar of laughter.

Vergil smirked, swaying a bit to play along with Draco's performance.

"Looks like Potter's a bit sensitive," Blaise whispered giving Parkinson an idea.

"Hey, Potter!" Parkinson yelled, a bit too loud for Vergil's liking. "Potter! The dementors are coming, Potter! Wooooo!"

"Cut it out," Vergil commented, smirking a bit at the dark haired girl. "It's no fun if he's not being a good sport about it," well, not that he could blame his housemates for the reaction. Potter walked in, seemed like he assumed they were mocking him and this was the result. They fainted, so what, life continues. No one was harmed, there's no reason to dwell on the thought, and hell might as well make a joke about it.

"What's fun in that? It's Potter," Draco sneered.

Vergil leaned back. "It's no longer a joke if the fun is one-sided," even as he said that he could feel a glare coming from behind him. Turning slightly, he saw Hermione, looking anything but happy at the moment. Well, as far as she was concerned he was making fun of her best friend.

This was going to get more difficult as time went on, he knew it. She knew he cared about her and he knew she cared about him, but that wasn't a thread that could hold them together for much longer on its own. Not when everything else was working against them, their houses, their friends, she would be as welcomed by his friends as he'd be by hers.

And neither was willing to make a change.

And would it really be worth it? No. For neither of them.

 _ **~X~**_

When it came to subjects one of the first classes Slytherins had was Care of Magical Creatures and it was with Gryffindors. Vergil sighed, this class could be troublesome. He wasn't sure how the creatures would react to him.

Vergil's lack of enthusiasm was complete opposite of Hagrid's enthusiasm. The large man looked extremely eager to get started as the two groups approached his hut.

"C'mon, now, get a move on! Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!" yeah, definitely too eager.

Hagrid led them by the edge of the trees for five minutes before they ended up outside of a paddock. They didn't see anything specific.

"Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" he called and the students complied. "That's it, make sure yeh can see, now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books-"

"How?" Draco pretty much demanded, his tone cold and filled with disdain for even picking the subject.

"Eh?" Hagrid was confused by his question.

"How do we open our books?" Draco repeated. He proceeded to take out his copy of 'The Monster Book of Monsters', which was bound shut with a length of rope.

Other students shared Draco's lack of knowledge on how to open the books as they took out books showing that some were bound by belts, or crammed inside tight bags. Vergil himself found a decent solution in shocking the book, literally.

"Hasn'… hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" Hagrid looked crestfallen at the revelation.

The response was unanimous no in the form of shaking their heads.

"Yeh've got ter stroke 'em," to Hagrid it seemed like the most obvious thing in the world. "Look," he took Hermione's book, ripped the spellotape that bound it and the book immediately tried to bite. Hagrid ran a forefinger down its spine causing it to shiver and open, now calm and quiet in his hand.

"Oh, how silly we've all been!" Draco sneered. "We should have stroked them! Why didn't we guess?!"

"I, I thought they were funny," Hagrid sounded uncertain as he spoke to Hermione.

"Oh, tremendously funny! Really witty, giving us books that try and rip our hands off!" Draco continued making Hagrid feel less confident about this.

Vergil sighed, this wasn't going good, the man told them to get books that were moderately dangerous because he thought it was funny. He was bound to show them more aggressive creatures as well…

"Shut up, Malfoy," Potter hissed, trying to defend their new teacher.

"If you've got any argument that defends the assignment of this book, or if you find it funny, Potter, I'd like to hear it," Vergil challenged, turning his attention from Hagrid to Potter and more specifically the book. "Considering it's still bound by that belt… I think you don't," he motioned at the book.

Potter was about to reply when Hagrid spoke up again.

"Righ' then, so, so yeh've got yer books an'… an'… Now yeh need the Magical Creatures. Yeah. So I'll go an' get 'em. Hang on..." he strode away into the forest.

"I want Hagrid to have a good first lesson," Potter narrowed his eyes on Vergil.

Vergil raised an eyebrow at that, mentally slapping himself for realizing too late he did in fact have half his face covered up. "Wait, you're telling me you really never complained about any teacher, did you?" he asked incredulously.

"That's not the same," Potter made an absurd argument.

"Why should he be exempt from complains? Draco's got a point, and the least Hagrid could have done is give us some clue on what to do," Vergil pointed out.

"Both of you stop it. There's no point in this," Hermione stood in between them before Potter could respond, fearing that the situation could get out of hands.

"Fine, fine, I'm backing down," Vergil complied, raising his hands up a bit. It would have been a surprise to everyone, if they hadn't seen the way he and Hermione hugged last year.

"He's got a soft spot for that girl and it's going to get him into trouble," he heard Zabini whisper from the back.

"He's being ridiculous," Draco muttered, obviously not happy.

Hermione smiled a bit, completely unaware of what Vergil's fellow Slytherins were saying. "Thanks," the smallest bit of tension from the morning was gone for the most part and Vergil knew this would keep happening.

Before Vergil could think about what Zabini said he realized Hagrid was coming back, with downright majestic creatures he brought along.

The creatures trotting toward them were a dozen of creatures with the bodies, hind legs and tails of a horse and the heads, front legs and wings if a giant eagle. Their beaks were the color of steel and their eyes were a brilliant shade of orange.

But they looked dangerous, if talons half a foot long were anything to judge by.

Regardless the beasts had thick leather collars around their necks, each of the collars was attached to long chains, all of which were held by Hagrid. The man led them to the fence and most of the class drew back slightly.

"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid roared happily, he clearly got over Draco's comments, or at least looked like he did. "Beau'iful, aren' they?"

Majestic may have been a proper word in Vergil's opinion, the beast looked proud, powerful… Truly a magnificent creature.

They each had a different color, from stormy gray, bronze, chestnut and ink black all the way to pinkish roan.

"So," Hagrid began, he was rubbing his hands together, beaming at the students. "if yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer."

His invitation was accepted only by cautious Hermione, Potter and Weasley.

"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud. Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."

Well, the talons were not something Vergil wanted to see being run through his flesh.

"Yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the firs' move," Hagrid continued. "It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt."

' _You don't say…_ ' Vergil thought, not really sure if anyone in their right mind wouldn't realize that.

"Right, who wants ter go first?"

Not even Potter stepped to the front right away and Vergil certainly wasn't going to try out his devil's luck when he had no idea how the creature would react to him.

"No one?" Hagrid had a pleading look on his face.

"I'll do it," Potter finally decided.

Vergil had to hand it to him; he was recklessly loyal to his friends. The Halfling observed as Potter climbed over the paddock and Hagrid pulled the gray hippogriff away and slipped off the leather collar. Most of the class held their breath as Hagrid instructed Potter.

Things got ridiculous when Hagrid told him to bow. It was a fool's bet, leaving yourself open to a potentially dangerous creature. It was one of the first things Vergil learnt, never expose your neck.

Demons, especially devils, never allow anyone to casually reach out and touch their neck. Doing so expressed surrender, acceptance that they were at that individual's mercy. It was an unwritten rule, an instinct engraved in their very nature.

Potter stopped bowing and the hippogriff still stared haughtily at him.

"Right… back away, now, Harry," Hagrid sounded fairly worried but then the hippogriff suddenly bent its front knees and sank into an unmistakable bow.

"Well done, Harry!" worry turned into happiness as Hagrid praised the boy. "Right, yeh can touch him! Pat his beak, go on!"

Potter moved slowly toward the hippogriff, cautiously he reached out and patted the beak several times. The applause roared through the class.

"Righ' then, Harry, I reckon he might' let yeh ride him!"

Vergil's eye widened at that. There was a fine line separating between teaching and putting students in danger and Hagrid was really crossing over it. And the beast didn't like being pulled by the feathers. Where was he even supposed to hold on to?

Either way Potter had no way of getting out of this, the beast took flight. So far he was doing fine so when he finally came back down most of the class cheered.

Vergil clapped good-naturedly. Potter deserved it.

His success encouraged the others and the entire class approached the herd.

Vergil joined Zabini and Nott with the inky black hippogriff. The two boys bowed and were granted with the chance to pat it. Vergil just stared at it, clearly showing no signs of wanting to stomp on his own instinct by bowing down to such an extent. He lowered his head slightly, but he didn't feel like going beyond that.

"I knew it must have been, if Potter could do it... I bet you're not dangerous at all, are you?" Vergil heard Draco saying and he glanced ahead to the boy. The red eye widened, the telltale signs of potentially threatening behavior were there. "Are you, you great ugly brute?"

Draco screamed, in a rather high-pitched voice and it was over in an instant. The entire class instantly looked at the scene, most of them gasped. Draco was on the ground, blood dripped onto the grass and Hagrid was pulling the hippogriff, Buckbeak, away from the scene. The hippogriff still strained to get to the boy glaring at it with a menacing red eye.

"Vergil?" Draco finally recovered from his shock.

"You damn," he took a deep breath. "Imbecile."

He managed to get there in time, just in time to pull Draco and throw him back, but he took an extra step. All he could do was to raise his right arm.

"Y-You're dying!" Draco yelled as the class panicked. "Look at you! It's killed you!" and he had a reason to panic. Vergil had three gashes on his right forearm. And then there were the other three gashes, in his dash to get to Draco the upper part of his body was somewhat hunched forward. Buckbeak's long talons cut into his shoulder and went to his chest before finally exiting the flesh. The wound was about half an inch deep and the blood was gushing out.

"It didn't you dumbass!" Vergil yelled at him. Adrenaline still pumping in his veins and dulling the pain.

"Buckbeak! Calm down!" Hagrid was still trying to calm the beast down but it was still trying to get to Vergil.

Vergil greeted his teeth; the pain was slowly getting stronger. The blood was drenching his robes. And the pale looks on everyone's faces were infuriating.

Finally, Hagrid managed to calm Buckbeak down and rushed to Vergil's side. "Someone help me. Gotta get him outta here…!" he looked as white as a sheet.

"You're gonna regret this. You and your bloody chicken!" Draco openly threatened as Vergil looked at Hagrid.

"I can walk on my own," Vergil insisted as he gripped onto his shoulder, he paid extra care on making sure others didn't see it as he slowly attempted to numb the wound with small sparks of electricity.

"You can't. Vergil let him help," Hermione ran up to him and looked him in the eye, her pleading brown eyes met with his red one. It was obvious she wanted to reach out to him, try to help him somehow but for once she had no idea what to do. He could see it in her eyes, this little stunt reminded her of their last year.

"Yes, come on. Let me help yeh," Hagrid reached out to lift him up.

Yet the boy's pride was immense. The pain from this kind of wounds would not make him seek or accept help. He was a part devil. He was trained to fight. And before anything else he was Grom's protégé!

He jerked away, ignoring the way it worsened the pain. "I'd rather bleed out than forsake my pride," he hissed and stepped away from Hagrid. The red eye hardened, void of anything but determination. "I can go to hospital wing, correct?" it was a question that further took the surprised professor aback.

"Y-Yes, of course," Hagrid told him.

Vergil nodded and fought the pain with his pride; he wouldn't dare lose to wounds like these. He couldn't lose to a pain like this. He began walking with Draco right next to him. The boy was adamant on staying right next to Vergil. Hagrid still followed him, fearful for the student. Hermione quickly ran to hold open the gate for them.

"Vergil, please," she tried one last time to reason with him.

He stopped for a moment and actually grinned. "Don't worry. I'm fine," he wasn't, the pain was still there, he was for the most part immune to electricity because of being able to use it. He couldn't properly numb his wounds in this situation.

"Don't waste your time! You'll die!" Draco panicked again.

"Why am I the calmest one?" Vergil groaned.

"Because you're delirious from pain!" Draco reasoned.

"My best friend is an absolute idiot," Vergil slapped his forehead with his right palm, jolting the pain in his forearm and then realizing what he just said.

The gravity of his words was obvious with the way Draco stood there, silent. Even Hermione was downright surprised.

It was the first time Vergil openly, in front of Draco and a hell of a lot of people called Draco his best friend.

And then Draco grinned in a rather infuriating way.

"If you say a single word I swear I'm going to push, and not pull, you next time." Vergil made sure his promise was clear as he picked up the pace and walked by the still grinning Slytherin.

 _ **~X~**_

The wounds were still bad enough to warrant Vergil staying in bed until tomorrow and the white haired boy was bored out of his mind.

"Just for five minutes," he heard Pomfrey's frustrated voice outside and then the doors opened for Draco and Zabini, for some reason, to walk in.

"Are you feeling better?" Zabini asked.

"I feel awful. I'm bored out of my mind," Vergil complained as he sat up.

"He's perfectly fine," The two commented at the same time earning a grin from the white haired boy.

"Well spotted," Vergil said.

"I'll make him pay, both him and his chicken," Draco suddenly declared.

That certainly wiped the grin off Vergil's face. "I don't want that. Forget about it."

Draco rolled his eyes at that. "You forget it. I already sent letter to father, he'll make sure there's hell to pay for this," there was no way Draco was backing off, that much Vergil knew.

He didn't like it, he really, really didn't like it. But neither did Draco last year when he offered to help Vergil find out about the Basilisk. Vergil sighed. "I don't like it, but if that's what you want," besides, he did get hurt. Regardless of Draco's actions that kind of creature for the very first class of Care of Magical Creatures wasn't the smartest idea to begin with.

 _ **~X~**_

Double Potions were the last classes for third year Slytherins on Thursday mornings and this was the first one. Once again they were grouped with Gryffindors. They were making a Shrinking Solution, potion Snape already walked Vergil through once thus letting the boy tune out the instruction.

Neville looked to his right where Vergil was and sure enough his nervous glance was quite notable to anyone who paid any attention. To the Gryffindor's small relief Vergil stood next to him and grinned.

Hermione was next to Neville and that gave the boy slightly more confidence that maybe the lesson wouldn't be so bad.

Vergil set up the ingredients needed and began silently chopping the daisy roots. Neville glanced at the white haired boy and observed the way he cut the roots.

"Be more precise," Vergil whispered when he noticed Neville's roots. That couldn't exactly be done with the way Neville's hand was shaking.

"I can't," Neville whispered back and looked at Hermione, pleading for some sort of help.

To his surprise Vergil reached out with his left hand and held Neville's right wrist. "Easy. Just relax," he guided Neville's hand up and down while Snape was walking behind them. This made him slow down with cutting his own roots but it was worth it so far. A part of Vergil was sure Snape caught what he was doing.

With the roots cut Vergil proceeded to peel the Shrivelfigs. Hermione made sure Neville got that part right from the corner of her eye.

With the ruby blood of two Shrivelfigs added to his cauldron he began to stir slowly.

"Slower," he muttered making Neville slow the stirring down.

With potion slightly heated he added the daisy roots and five hairy caterpillars. He began shaking the wormwood.

"Five Neville," Vergil heard Hermione whispering as he added the wormwood as well.

Stirring the potion vigorously wasn't much of a problem; Madam Pomfrey didn't have much trouble healing his wounds. There was still a bit of pain but it was barely noticeable.

Vergil juiced four leeches and was about to add them when he saw Neville about to juice the fifth one.

"Four," his whisper made Neville halt and look at him, a silent, fearful thank you was clear on the face of the boy that was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown.

With the juice added he continued stirring slowly, cautiously while shaking rat spleen. He added it to the cauldron and let out a sigh as his left hand shot above Neville's cauldron to catch the three spleens. Neville jumped back and nearly fell down as his heart drummed inside of his chest.

Vergil shook his hand. "One, Neville, just one," Vergil dropped the spleen into the so far correctly made potion and lowered the remaining two onto the table.

"Y-Yes," the timid boy mumbled.

Vergil nodded and added a splash of cowbane; he went to stir slowly before finally rising the temperature. Once it was ready he just waved his wand and completed the potion.

The lesson was coming to an end and Snape strode over to Neville who's heart skipped a beat.

Man sneered as he looked at the acid green potion in Neville's cauldron. "Well, Longbottom, shall we test the potion on your toad?" that was new and it caused Neville to gulp as he watched Snape fearfully, pleading with his eyes not to give the potion to Trevor.

But Vergil knew the potion was fine so he suppressed his grin.

"Everyone gather 'round," Snape said as his black eyes glittered. "And watch what happens to Longbottom's toad. If he has managed to produce a Shrinking Solution, it will shrink to a tadpole. If, as I don't doubt, he has done it wrong, his toad is likely to be poisoned."

While the Gryffindors were fearful Slytherins looked excited, Vergil kept his face blank but he still had to put some effort into suppressing his grin.

Snape picked up Trevor in his left hand and dipped a small spoon into Neville's potion. He trickled a few drops down Trevor's throat. The toad gulped and with a small pop Trevor turned into a tadpole and began wriggling in Snape's palm.

Gryffindors burst into applause and a grin finally broke out on Vergil's face as Snape pulled a small bottle from the pocket of his robes. He poured a few drops on top of the tadpole, causing Trevor to grow back to his original size.

"Five points from Gryffindor," Snape's declaration wiped the smiles. "Next time do it on your own. Class dismissed."

Vergil thought about staying behind but eventually decided against it. When he stepped out he was met by Neville and Hermione.

"Aren't they waiting for you?" Vergil glanced over to Potter and Weasley.

"Yes. I just wanted to ask you if you're feeling alright," Hermione sounded concerned, they didn't have much of an opportunity to talk this year, between Vergil's injury and already small number of classes they shared as well as Vergil not going to the library this week they just didn't come across one another.

"I'm fine. Yeah, I had better days but it's nothing to worry about," Vergil assured her with a small smile on his face. "Thanks for asking."

"Don't mention it," she smiled back and then there was a bit of comfortable silence between them.

"Hermione! Come on!" Weasley interrupted the silence that Neville was a witness to.

Hermione looked back at Weasley and Potter, the former seemed rather impatient. "I'll see you later then," she said to Vergil.

"Sure," Vergil nodded.

With that she turned to leave.

"Hey! Hermione," Vergil suddenly called her. She turned around, slightly surprised. "You took Ancient Runes as elective, right?"

"Yes, I did," she replied, slightly confused with where he was going with it.

"Do you have anyone to sit with?" Vergil asked.

"No, not many took it as elective. No one from Gryffindor," she told him, a smallest hint of a smile coming back to her face as she realized where he was going with it.

"No one from Slytherin either. Want to, I don't know, sit with me…?" for the first time since Hermione met him he wasn't completely blunt. Sure he didn't beat around the bushes but he didn't sound as confident as he usually did. The only other time that came close to this was back in the first year, right before he finally stopped calling her by her last name.

"Of course," the answer was obvious to her, but the way he asked her still caught her by surprise.

And Vergil grinned. Not in the way he usually grinned. Not in his confident, half smirk half grin. It was just a happy, wide grin.

"Hermione!" Weasley nearly shouted this time.

"I've got to go. Bye," she went to join her friends.

"So… It's a nice weather today," Vergil pointed out as he and Neville were left alone.

"Huh? Oh, it is. Thank you for helping me," Neville looked anywhere but at the white haired boy.

"Don't mention it. How about I help you out with potions, outside of lessons. We could meet up at the library or somewhere and I'll see what I can do to help you. Hell, Snape will let me use the classroom so we can make some potion," Vergil suggested.

"You'd do that?" Neville asked, obviously shocked.

"Of course, as long as you want me to," Vergil assured him, the round-faced boy certainly needed hell of a lot of assurance.

"I-I'd like that. Thank you Vergil," Neville looked at him.

Vergil patted him on the back lightly. "Don't mention it."

* * *

 _ **Well, after a brief pause here we are, the third book. I'm happy we got here, we're now one book away from where I last left off. There will definitely be some things I need to rewrite for this book, but it definitely won't take a completely different route as the second book did.**_

* * *

 _ **Answers on reviews:**_

 _ **deathcornfive – Thank you, well, here's your answer.**_

 _ **Flame Wolfe – I'm glad I managed to make that a bit of a surprise.**_

 _ **Guest – Thank you, here's the chapter.**_

 _ **Guest – Thank you.**_

 _ **Lady Keiko Niwa – Thanks for explaining. I can definitely see where you're coming from. I'll be the first to admit this version has a different tone compared to the original and while the original had that warrior returning to civilian life feel that you mentioned it also had Vergil as a mostly passive character. Fun fact, when I started the rewrite, one scene I knew was going to be absolutely taken out was the polyjuice potion related plot. Vergil isn't human, it was a plot hole.**_

 _ **Guest – Thanks.**_

 _ **Silver Wolf – I'll be completely honest; I haven't really thought of that. Although, Vergil has never been described as having reddish skin as you mentioned. If anyone felt offended by Vergil in any way, I sincerely apologize and it wasn't my intention in any way. Vergil has always been an anime-based character and that's all there ever was to him. Anime-like appearance, anime-like powers, influenced heavily by Devil May Cry games, plain and simple as that.**_

 _ **ABEBOABDU – I mean; would you really want me to write Vergil just stealing all the spotlight from every single character? I agree he could be more involved with the main plot, but the first two books really aren't as flexible as others. Still, thanks for reading.**_


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